Across the Line by Nayanika Mahtani

Author:Nayanika Mahtani
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789353057145
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Published: 2019-11-10T16:00:00+00:00

Glorious Uncertainties

The stadium, if you could call it that, was the cricket field of the Paddington Recreation Ground. A large billboard announced: ‘Tapeball4All League Tournament, sponsored by Nabeel’s Kitchen’. Inaya sat with the rest of her Curry Cruisers teammates, chewing at her stubby fingers as she awaited her turn to bat.

‘And tape-ball cricket is even more gloriously uncertain than regular cricket is!’ declared the commentator who seemed either to have had too much coffee, or was generally an overexcitable sort. ‘Eleven-a-side, 8 overs per innings and no fielding restrictions—really sets the scene for some fast-paced entertainment. And so, in this game of glorious uncertainties, let’s see if the Curry Cruisers from Asia—comprising players from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh—can save the day. The Chippy Champs team from Europe—comprising players from the UK and Ireland—have batted first and raised an impressive score of 141 from 8 overs. That is an absolutely brilliant score in this Under 16s tournament. Will the Curry Cruisers be able to beat that total?’

The skipper of the Chippy Champs side, Simone Donnelly, was in fine form. When it was her turn to bat, she had smashed almost every Curry Cruisers bowler all over the park—and was now getting her bowlers to keep the run rate of the Curry Cruisers well in check.

Inaya was star-struck as she watched Simone, who was England’s biggest female star of tape-ball. Simone, a tall strapping girl, had grown up in Birmingham playing tape-ball cricket with a bunch of children of Pakistani origin in her neighbourhood. Twenty an over was a routine achievement for her—earning her a following not only in England but in Pakistan and Dubai as well.

The Curry Cruisers had a mammoth 142-run target facing them. Their skipper Shaheen along with the other opener, got off to a very respectable start, scoring 34 runs in the first 2 overs. But then Shaheen fell victim to a superb delivery. In the next 3 overs, the next pair put on a valuable 51-run partnership, but soon after, they were both out to successive balls.

This brought Inaya Haider and Lubna Ahsan in to bat. Inaya tapped her foot nervously as she looked at the scoreboard. Three wickets down and they were only at 85. They had to score 57 in the remaining 3 overs in order to win. It was a hugely ambitious ask. Lubna was the more experienced player, but Inaya had kept the scoreboard ticking too—and in the next 2 overs, they managed to rack up a commendable 29 runs.

The last over arrived. The Curry Cruisers needed 28 to win off 6 balls. Inaya was on strike. Judith Jones, who had an outstanding record in the death overs, was brought in to bowl. The first ball of the over was a bouncer. It went high over Inaya’s shoulder, sailed over the outstretched gloves of the wicketkeeper and bounced to the boundary for 4 byes. The umpire called it a wide. Inaya’s heart was racing, even as she thanked her lucky stars for those much-needed runs and the extra ball.

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