How Did We Do That?

Sometimes it's necessary to believe that the game is never lost until the final ball has been bowled.

One of the most exciting games of cricket I've ever had the privilege to watch. And incredibly tense at the end. Forrest opened the batting again, scoring a very hard fought 29 on a tough track. Wickets fell regularly before a late flourish allowed us to reach a total of 130, all out just inside the regulation 50 overs. The lads knew they would have to bowl well, and have some luck, to defend such a modest score. They did bowl well, but didn't get much in the way of luck as Tong Park carefully steered the score to 63-1 just before drinks at halfway. 

Three wickets then fell very quickly and it was game on. Every time the opposition put a partnership together to take the game away, we took a crucial wicket to bring it back again. The pressure was building on both sides. When Forrest took a sharp catch in the deep to dismiss their most dangerous batsmen, we became clear favourites. Then we conceded a few boundaries and they were suddenly only one big hit away from winning. Finally, as has happened before this season, a fired-up Henry took the last two wickets with successive balls to seal a victory by just 4 runs.

Full credit to Alex, our captain, for ringing the right changes and keeping a cool head to the end - although the way he is looking to the heavens here, perhaps that head wasn't so cool. The lads were pumped! It's because cricket takes such a long time to play that a tense finish like this is so exhilarating, with victory so wonderfully sweet and defeat so bitterly devastating. A whole day's emotional investment gets distilled into a single moment.