What should have been a Cricket match, started with a Kabaddi rather. A full day of Yes and No, finally ended up in 12 Stars favor with the decision to play. The Stars were upbeat unlike the usual gloomy Belgian weather. While Vishal sacrificed his captaincy owing to Umpiring commitments, it was up to the Man with the Magic Beard, Ashish to lead the team in the first of the Division 3 matches for 2025 Season.
Ashish won the toss and decided to bat first, and looking at the lack of hesitation, it was as if he had taken the decision already last year. The message was loud and clear, bat for 50 overs, extras will come through with every extra, comes an extra delivery. The order was set, the roles were set, the target was set, and the match was underway.
Sharif and Sunil started the innings carefully, before Sharif perished to a skidder, but not before setting a reasonably good opening partnership. Ashish joined Sunil and together they set a solid platform for 12 Stars. Mixed with some lovely leaves, simple singles, decent drives and calculated cut shots, the runs column was kept busy on the Scoreboard. The partnership was flourishing when “it” happened. Pat Symcox, also known as Kalimullah floated a ball towards Ashish, who came across the stumps, waited for the ball, knelt and missed a mighty sweep. Hold on, there were no official umpires and so JD was sent with specific instructions from Ashish that he should not give unless it was 100% out. but this was different, this was 200% out and with a great dilemma, JD gave Ashish out and no points to anyone for guessing what happened next 🤣🤣🤣
Deepak couldn’t get the score ticking and got out followed by debutant Rahul who perished to an uncharacteristic shot leaving the Stars suddenly reeling from 83 for 1, to 86 for 4. In came “Steady” Sameer to stabilize the ship with Sunil and together they made sure the target was in sight. Sunil completed a glorious 50, his first in a looooooong time and he was literally the “Mainstay” of the Stars, He perished soon after his 50 and Sameer joined him after a well made 21 and Ahmed couldn’t add much before Jimmy tried to up the score and was out having played only 23 balls out of the possible 78 (something for the Stars to think about). JD, Manoj and Devang could manage very little but were able to get the Stars a run over 200.
With some good score on the board, thanks to Sunil, Ashish, Sameer and Jimmy, JD started the proceedings with Jimmy on the other end. The tight bowling was rewarded with a wicket on the 3rd over for JD and a misunderstanding between the batsmen and a quick thinking and acting from Ashish got Syed back to the pavilion. Jimmy wasn’t done yet, his swift action coupled with a solid shoulder produced a short ball that the
batsman used his bat to avoid any bodily injury resulting in a tame catch to Rahul. Captain Aman lost his patience and charged Manoj only to see a swift work behind the stumps by Rahul. In walked 19-year-old Abdul Wadood who tried to calm down the otherwise roaring 12 Stars. Ahmad started a rather difficult spell with the wind “wide”ning the gap between the batsman and the ball. Out of nowhere in this difficult spell, Sunil took a lovely, composed catch and this was followed by a breathtaking jumping catch by Clinical Manoj at the slips, who was as elated as anyone else on the field and promised a round of beer then and there 🤣. Ahmad missed his hat-trick but nevertheless was happy with the 2 priceless wickets. A dry spell of overs lasted before JD was brought back specifically to remove the comfortable Abdul and JD did deliver, thanks to a good catch by Deepak at gully. It was all over for the Gents, when big hitting Abdul was run out by some good work by JD/Rahul and Jimmy came back to break the timber and seal the Victory for the Stars.
Though it was a super collective effort, the knock of Sunil and the bowling of Jimmy stood out with decent contributions from Ashish, Sameer, Ahmad, Manoj and JD in addition to the wonderful work on the field by the entire team. Special note on Rahul, who took 2 catches, 2 run outs and a stumping on his debut match
The Journey to a thousand miles begins with one step, and the Stars have taken the first one. Hopefully, this will be a meaningful Step towards the “Championship” journey. 🙌🏾
– Judson Daniel
