It was a bright sunny day on the 4th of December. The pitch was prepared to perfection in accordance with the event that was about to take place. It was the Vinayaga Raj Rajaratnam Memorial game, that would be played by two teams led by Karthik and Rahul (Vinayaga’s sons). The teams consist of a combination of junior boys and friends of Vinayaga selected by both captains.
Rahul’s XI won the toss and elected to bat, which was no surprise considering the clear skies, and the flat deck. Neville, the RSC JDP coach had arrived to the crease along with Nada to commence proceedings. Karthik’s XI were looking for a good start with the new ball, however Nish struggled to get his line and length early on and was taken for three boundaries in a dominant first over for Rahul’s XI. The first over set the tone for the rest of the innings as Neville showed the junior boys how it was done with a quickfire 32 of just 19 deliveries. Nada poked his bat at a short ball outside off and Sitha struggled to settle himself under a high catch. When it seemed like all hope was lost, Sitha dived and pulled off a miraculous one handed catch that shocked everyone on the pitch including himself.
Youngster Devin Harendra kept the rhythm flowing and got Rahul’s XI steering at a rate of 9 runs per over courtesy of some boundaries all over the ground. Not long after, Devin was forced to retire, and retired in style with a six on the last ball finishing off with 34 runs of 38 deliveries. The bowlers from Karthik’s XI started to gain momentum after Devin’s departure and were able to drop the run rate owing to a sequence of dot balls. The man with the golden hand Sitha, proved to be the man with the golden arm too as he picked up 3 wickets in quick succession. Rahul’s XI ended up with a respectable 182 runs for the loss of six wickets at the end of their 25 overs innings.
Skipper Karthik who has been in top form with a recent unbeaten century and half century walked out to bat with immense responsibility on his shoulders, Praveen accompanied him to the crease. Just as Karthik’s XI thought that Neville was done for the day after his batting cameo, there the man was with a run up starting from the 30 yard circle, looking ready to fire. On the third ball of the first over, Neville bowled a late inswinger which nipped away and clipped the bails off. Karthik stood there bamboozled as he was beaten by an unplayable delivery, they don’t call Neville the “Sultan of Swing” for nothing.
Sharveen was next up, and was able to steady the ship and play the overs out along with a couple of classy boundaries. Praveen was next to depart by an absolute ripper by Rishabh which took the outside edge. Senior Devin formed a partnership with his nephew Sharveen and was looking in fine touch however as Sharveen was approaching retirement, he let his stubbornness get the better of him as he tried to play a switch hit off Ajay Gupta’s bowling. Ajay danced around with joy whilst Sharveen walked back in disappointment.
The game was more or less one-sided at that point with Devin still fighting it out in the middle. His 5 boundaries fired him to 31 runs of just 30 deliveries, concluding a gutsy knock. Devin retired but signaled that he will be back once the 10th wicket falls. Skipper Rahul took the liberty of rotating his bowlers and giving everyone a chance, as they managed to finish the 25 overs with a convincing 63 run win. Rahul walked off the pitch with a smirk on his face, knowing he’d just got the better of his older brother. In the end it was a fine game accompanied by dinner and some drinks by the pool.  Without a doubt, Vinayaga will be looking down on his sons full of pride.