Triggerians,

I just wanted to share some special moments that only Spartans shared this season. Just thought of reliving this feat. I will try to go match by match and give the real highlight of the game the best I can remember.

Spartans:309/6   MCC II:56/10   Result:Won
Who can forget Jawad’s lethal spell of 8/8. Incredibly brutal and bloody quick. One thing I like to remember about this game was Krishna’s running for me when he made 1’s into 3’s and got me to a 150.

MCC I:214/8      Spartans:215/7   Result:Won
This was absolutely Ruchir bhai’s game. A 3-for and bringing us home by scoring 85* coming in at no.3 after Satish’s dismissal in the 2nd over. Showed Dravid like patience and shots.

Spartans: 101/6   HWI:          Result:Abandoned
As the score tells the story we were destroyed by the overcast conditions. The seam and swing had the best of us. But the only reason I mention this game is because this was Jeeva’s most fluent innings I had ever witnessed (58*). He played shots all over the ground. Those leg glances were coming way too easy. Had the rain not intervened he had a 100+ written all over.

Spartans:287/6   CCC:277/7      Result:Won
I missed this game half-way as I had to fly back. Kiran M substituted for me for 40-overs what a champion he is. Again Ruchir bhai played a lone hand scoring 92. But I like to mention Krishna in particular for this game. What a great ambassador of the club, he played a shot after which the ball was rolling on to the stumps and I believe he punched the ball away and before the umpire could adjudge him out for obstruction he started walking whereas when the great legend of HCL Damodhar batting on 50+ top edged the ball from Imran to Amir bhai(sub as a keeper), while the ball was in the air he started pushing Amir bhai so he’d drop the catch. Luckily Amir bhai caught and he got into a verbal argument with Imran and Amir bhai. Justice was served at the end of the day.

ECC:221      Spartans:222/7      Result:Won
Missed this game but I did hear that Imran and OZ bhai saved this game from what could’ve been the upset of the season. Chasing 222 we were 150 odd for 6 before the rescue effort came in.

HCSC:193/7      Spartans:194/7      Result:Won
This game belonged to Imran and Vishnu. First Vishnu’s 4-for and then Imran patiently kept ticking the score and stood there to ensure victory after we were 160/7. Was anyone’s game till the last over or so.

Spartans:151/10   Titans:152/3         Result:Lost
By this game we were used to collapses and lower order rescues. But unfortunately the first loss came against who else but Titans . The only memory I’d like to keep is Zohaib’s Chatkhara grill kababs and sledging the crap out of Roshan bhai but him standing tall and finishing the game. P.S. Biren picked a skier off Sushil bhai’s bat an excellent catch.

Spartans:288/10   MCC II:184/10      Result:Won
Yet another top order collapse. Manas’s 87 and Amir bhai’s 66 got us to a respectable total otherwise another upset was there to happen. It was 115 degrees and I salute Manas and Amir bhai to have the patience of playing in this heat and scoring runs. P.S. This is the game where “HAYDEN-LIKE” Amir bhai was born. : ) Lets not forget Jeeva’s 5-for and 50 runs. A complete all-round performance.

HICC:245/7      Spartans:183/10      Result:Lost
Right when the top order clicked the lower order failed. We were chasing on target with the run rate. At 133/4 after 20 overs we collapsed to 183/10. Made a meal out of this one. Highlight was Manas’s sledging “PANI KO PANI PANI KAR DIYA”. Also Zubair bhai the guy who talked the most walked back with a 0.

Spartans:251/9   ECC:120/10         Result:Won
After losses against Titans and HICC, this was much needed. Biren missed this game but Krishna brought great energy and improvisation in this game. Real attacking fields, really good ground fielding. Brought the whole team together at the right time. Highlight was Ashok’s fluent 82 with back to back sixes on flicks over square leg. Also, Sunil’s catch at first slip off Siju ABSOLUTE STUNNER.

Spartans:83/10   HWI:84/2         Result:Lost
The worst loss and the best post match party. Biren and Krishna treated the team at Chatkhara grill after this loss. That’s what I call team unity. We lost wickets to rising deliveries giving away 5 caught behinds.

CCC: 135/10      Spartans:136/4      Result:Won
Excellent comeback after a huge loss. We dominated CCC like there’s no tomorrow. Raman’s 6 wickets really gave us the much needed boost. The best part was when Damu came on to bat I said CCC is 4 win 4 loss they’re desperate for a win under pressure guys!!! And he called me over and said Asad we won 4 lost 4 but we didn’t beg for wins we played with discipline. The same guy who didn’t want to walk after obstructing field in the last game. That was it before me and Imran started sledging the crap out of him about how disciplined our last encounter was that next over he went for the wild swing and had to walk back….. : ) Myself and Sunil got to 50/0 in 5 overs and CCC never recovered.

Spartans:148/10   Titans: 150/4         Result:Lost
A 20-over game and we made sure we give Titans a run for their money. Imran’s 50 while fasting to me was the highlight of this game. And ofcourse Vishnu’s dismissal that gave him a glimpse of what he did to Niraj after collecting his catch amazing to watch!

Spartans:192/10   HCSC:194/5         Result:Lost
This was the slowest game I played the whole season we were 110/5 in 30 but we finished strong at 192. We bowled our hearts out and kept the pressure but just didn’t have enough runs to back up our bowling. The highlight of this game was Ashok’s catch of Imran’s bowling to dismiss Hemani at deep square leg when he jogged backwards and pouched single handedly the ball from thin air. Excellent to watch. My best catch of the summer. P.S. Ashok claims it wasn’t a fluke.

Spartans:131/10   HICC:39/5         Result:Abandoned
At this point of time, we needed to make sure either we win this game/ Titans defeat MCC or we get a rain out to qualify for the playoffs. After our innings which was led by a spirited counter attack from Biren, we really needed something special with rain on the horizon. Had HICC chased it down within 15 overs, we’d have been waiting on MCC and Titans game result. This is where Spartans graduated as a team as Taha led a come back all by himself. Removing top 5 of HICC within 2 overs. Top notch swing and seam bowling with stunning catches from Nanda, Krishna and Zohaib. After rain intervened, HICC were the ones hesitating to come back out in the middle with the bowlers using conditions so well. Eventually Titans went on to defeat MCC and we got a rain out and successfully made it to the playoffs.