MCEC Cricket club powers on…

MCEC CC came up against Bawany’s Beasts, the top-seeded team in the Islington division, and were fearing the worst. They were also facing up to hunger pangs and the threat of severe dehydration in the intense July Sun. The improbability of succeeding in the stifling weather conditions, the team suffering from Ramadan-induced energy-deprivation, led to frivolous comparisons with the Battle of Badr. Indeed, the task awaiting MCEC CC on that unbearably humid day was truly daunting; but the outcome: legendary.
‘Cornered Tigers’ was the mantra Captain Taha Ansari always drilled into his team. Bowling first after losing the toss, MCEC CC came out roaring. Despite lacking the immaculate accuracy of Imran Ahmed, the MCEC bowling attack was nonetheless impressive. The Ansari brothers got their team off to an excellent start with a wicket apiece, including the prized scalp of the opposition captain, caught athletically by vice-captain Husnain Rawal. Nabil Jamil, on debut, came on to bowl in what was to be the beginning of a scintillating all-round performance matched only by the likes of Afridi.  His darting off-spinners cramped the batsman for room and made run-scoring very difficult. Youngsters Hassan Akhter and Faiz Azam – the former also on debut and the latter playing in only his second LMS game – continued the good work with outstanding economy rates, each claiming a wicket in the process. Aun-Mohammed, too, claimed a wicket after an excellent stumping by the wicket keeper Mohsin Azam. MCEC CC began to flaunt the kind of bowling prowess that caused the on-looking Mr Ansari to nod his head ever so slightly in approval.
Reeling with 6 wickets down and not many runs on the board, beleaguered Bawany sent in their Beast; a plump chap with enormous power. Nimble-footed for a man of his bulk, he smashed the ball to all parts. His power hitting forced the fielders to delve deep into the thorny bushes in order to retrieve the ball, only to then have to go through the same painful exercise a ball later. Nabil was made to fetch the ball from deep within the spiky bushes toward the end of the innings. He came out with a ferocious look in his eyes, determined to inflict the very same painful task on the opposition. No one, though, could have foreseen the extent of Nabil’s determination. The beastly onslaught, meanwhile, altered the course of the game. The chubby fella had reached his century in rapid time as MCEC CC were left licking their wounds (mindful of breaking their fast prematurely, of course). The colossal target set; 175 required of just 100 balls.
Dr Ansari’s compendious words of hikma at the half way point provided a renewed vigour to the team that not even chilled hydration was capable of providing. “We’ll get these runs, boys.” Not many believed him, especially with a team deprived of their star all-rounder Ali Anwar and the experienced talisman Kamran Ahmad. Talha and Nabil went to open the innings and got off to a rattling start, providing the team with the slightest glimmer of hope. The two swung their bats at anything remotely loose from the bowlers. After some flourishing drives, Talha was caught deep on the boundary, and so in came the technically gifted Mohsin who along with Nabil built an impressive partnership. A flashy stroke player with a high strike rate and an average that would make the cricketing greats envious, Mohsin played anchor to the superb Nabil. Launching sixes at dangerous speeds, Nabil intentionally picked out the prickliest bushes with remarkable accuracy, meeting the ball with the middle of his bat in swashbuckling manor. This was a craftsman at the very top of his game. He soon reached 50 and thus mandatory retirement. So in came Taha, oozing elegance as always, but short-lived was his partnership with Mohsin, bowled by a beauty. Taha followed soon after, triggering a potentially fatal collapse. The runs dried out and MCEC CC seemed to be sliding toward a defeat so demoralising that even the prospect of Iftar seemed less tantalising; bitter would those dates taste if unaccompanied with victory.
Despite wickets falling, the crucial partnership between Husnain and Aun late in the innings rejuvenated MCEC’s chances. 12 of the last over with just 2 wickets left. It would take something truly remarkable to win it from here. By this stage MCEC CC had nearly exhausted all of their wickets, it was looking dire. In came Nabil, back from retirement. Desperate to get on strike, Nabil was left on the non-strikers end for longer than he intended. Successive run outs, however, meant that Nabil soon became the last remaining batsman; but with so much to do in such precious little time, was this the end for MCEC CC? 9 of 2: impossible, surely? The game was slipping though their hands. Smash! SIX! Three of the last ball, shades of Miandad at Sharjah. Wallop! FOUR! He’d done it! The hunger pangs subsided; the thirst had gone (momentarily at least); the parched lips were now moist with victorious salutations; “Takbeer!” “Allahu Akbar!” MCEC CC invaded the pitch with utter jubilation, surrounding Nabil, jumping on the poor lad and tugging at his beard. He was The Last Man Standing in a heroic team effort.
Not quite the same exertions as those felt during Badr then, but defying all odds to conquer dehydration, hunger and the brutish, ballistic batting of Bawany’s Beasts filled MCEC CC with a splendid joy and triumph that can only be felt by those fasting in Ramadan – or perhaps more specifically, cricketers fasting in Ramadan.