Rebels quashed

Going by history every act of rebellion has invariably ended in a defeat and on Saturday there was yet another rebellious act, nothing more than shrill cries from a fledgling. Winning the previous two games in NJSBCL, we wanted to start the NJPCL with a bang too. The rebels showed positive intent initially by challenging us to chase, but their batting lacked any vitality to take our bowlers to the cleaners. If Satyagrahis can be called rebels, then Americans can talk English. Satish and Thamizh were economical checking all holes that made things miserably difficult for the home team. My form has also been good with the ball and Arindam took three wickets but he was robbed a five-for. We made regular inroads and they ended making a very modest total from their 20 overs thanks to some slipshod fielding by us. Still 89 looked ridiculous as we had some big hitters in Andrew and Shekar. They looked exhausted and some players camouflaged it with condescension towards tennis ball cricket to hide all their disbelief and frustration. Paresh played few pristine drives before getting out eventually triggering the classic Pakistani collapse. The middle order looked to play expansive shots but failed, as what looked like bed of roses suddenly transformed to crossing the Duraiswamy subway. I got out irresponsibly trying to go for a glorious straight six. Thanks to Harish's resurgence with Andrew we passed the test and averted danger. Lesson learnt was not to be complacent. Lesson taught was quashing a rebel in the bud (no one likes anarchy).