The ball spun fast from Arshdeep's hand and unbeknownst to anyone else, there was a sharp intake of breath from the senior Indian team's dug out, as Jasprit Bumrah revelled in his junior's first ball, Arshdeep kept a tight line, and the ball flew straight to Dhawan's stumps but his bat got there first, hitting it straight to the fielder at slip... no run
2nd Ball: Just like, he had been told by Prince, Arshdeep bowled a variation to the slightly fuller delivery that was his first, this time as he barrelled forward with the ball and released it from his fingers, the length was much shorter, and underneath the short length, there was also the danger of a cutter, a smooth leg cutter that nearly flew under Dhawan's bat, but it connected just enough for the ball to roll to extra cover, where Prince smothered it, not in time however to stop a single taken by Dhawan, putting Rohit on strike.
3rd Ball: Arshdeep bowled his first to Rohit, who had his eyes set on the young fast bowler's wrists and as the leather ball shot from Arshdeep's hand, Rohit was able to pinpoint the general length and line of the ball and which way it would cut, in this case an off cutter, Rohit stayed at his crease and calmly struck the ball with the sweet middle spot of the bat, slotting the ball between Aru at square leg and and Parag at mid-wicket and they could do nothing but give pointless chase, or so Prince thought but before it could go for four Aru caught it quickly, throwing it back to Parag before it could hit the boundary, a boundary line save, saving a certain boundary, Rohit who hadn't ran panicked and managed to get just a single before Parag's throw got back to Arshdeep, due to amazing fielding, a certain four was restricted to a single, as Aru ran back Prince hugged him and Parag.
"Great work guys,"
4th Ball: Arshdeep on the back of a spirit lifting saving of runs from the under nineteen fielders, ran with more pace and confidence, shooting towards the wickets before releasing a powerful ball, it ripped past the air, whistling before thudding hard, short, a cutter, it moves to the off position, Dhawan chases it with the bat, but at the very last second it swings, he put swing on a cutter, Prince was in awe as the ball went around Dhawan's outstretched hand, it was almost a certain wicket, until the ball scraped the off stump, the bales strill in tact, Dhawan handed a lifeline, but he was rattled now, a great delivery from the young bowler.
5th Ball: Arshdeep was not stupid enough to try it again, he knew Dhawan would be waiting for it, and that he would be punished, this time as he run in, he pitched a fuller delivery, caught off guard with the pace and sudden full delivery, Dhawan shifted weight to his back leg and attempted to flick the ball away, the ball edged his bat and went high in the air over the head of the keeper, Rishabh Pant, and landed in no man's zone, another lifeline for Dhawan.
6th Ball: Arshdeep bowled a wonderful ball, slightly wider in line but perfectly short in length to play a brilliant cutter onto Dhawan's pads, but he masterfully flicked it off his own pads, sending the ball past point for a beautiful four that kissed the boundary line, anyone less experienced and with slower reflexes would not have connected to that shot, and that ball concluded despite the loss of four runs in the end a really solid first over from Arshdeep especially considering this was a 20-20 match, where batsmen would come out more aggressive.
Arshdeep: 1 Over: 6 Runs: 0 Wickets
----------4 over's later---------
Powerplay was over and the under nineteen team still had not beaten the strike partnership between Dhawan and Rohit, after Arshdeep's over, Khaleel and Sundar were punished, when Arshdeep came back to bowl his second, he was punished too both batsmen were finally in some rivetting form.
Rohit: 30 of 16 ---------- Dhawan: 27 of 14 Senior Team: 57 in Five Overs for 0 Wickets
------------------------
Seeing, Arshdeep's reluctance to return to the crease after his expensive second over, prince walked up to him, "Hey Arsh, give me the ball."
The boy looked up at Prince and breathed a sigh of relief before tossing it over to Prince who suddenly felt a lot more pressure than before, being the captain he had to lead the team by example, and the ball felt heavier in his hand than usual but he would make it count today, at least he hoped so.
1st Ball: Prince would bowl his first to Rohit Sharma. He let out a deep exhale, no tension, no resistance in his body as he circulated blood in his wrist with the system's help, making his arm more strong, with more whip and venom as he got ready to unleash a rain of fire on the batsmen. Prince navigated to the system's skillset screen, activating his recently bought skill.
__India Senior Dugout__
Jasprit Bumrah: "What the fuc-"
_________________________
Prince nodded at Rohit before walking back and this time once again watching the ball in his hand, reading the scars and the seam, the system told him exactly where tog rip it and how to grip it for maximum swing and he knew he could utilise that.
2nd Ball: Prince ran in. No more variation for Rohit, he would feel the full pace and swing that Prince had to offer, he knew he could tempt Rohit with a fuller delivery, if it looked like a free hand full toss, Rohit would be sure to smash it, but thats where it came, the syste's guidance made it so that the ball would float and then swing, leaving the swing late, and as the ball floated towards Rohit at insane speeds, he swung upwards, attempting to hit it with the middle of the bat for a six, but it was too early and the ball swung out wide, before swinging back in and clattering into the middle stumps of Rohit Sharma. For a second it felt unreal and then prince punched the air as his team swarmed him, they broke through finally.
_Virat Kohli Came to the Crease_ The rest of the over went however, just how Prince wanted, no runs given one wicket taken.
Prince: 1 Over: 0 Runs: 1 Wicket.
India Seniors: 57 for 1 ________ 6 Overs...
The under nineteens gained momentum since then, but Virat Kohli was a force to be reckoned with, from losing a key wicket, he steadied the innings, however in the eighth over, Shikhar Dhawan fell to a great pattern display from Sundar, switching the pace on the last ball tricking Dhawan into playing earlier, causing his stumps to be uprooted.
M.S Dhoni came on and from there it was all downhill for the under nineteen team, despite Prince returning and bowling a brilliant second over, conceding only four runs, they began hitting big as soon as Arshdeep returned to bowl. By the seventeenth over, when Prince returned to bowl, Dhoni and Kohli had wrecked the under nineteens.
Kohli: 60 of 26 _______ Dhoni: 50 of 27 ______ Partnership: 110 off 48
India Seniors: 167/2 ..... 17th Over.
Kohli was on strike when Prince returned to bowl his third over.
1st Ball: Prince ran in with fire in his veins but an ice cold demeanour to temper his unsteady heart, letting the ball rip from his hand before he overstepped, a perfect yorker, it swung slightly as it approached Virat who was forced onto his backfoot, swatting at the ball, it clipped the bottom edge of the bat and hit the ground, rising above the wickets and falling just a millimetre to the side of it, a lifeline for Virat, Prince smiled slightly for the first time and walked back ready for more.
2nd Ball: Prince ran in again, this time smashing a disguised short ball into the batting strip and it cut towards Kohli who had stepped onto his back foot expecting a yorker, attempting to gain some runs at least, Virat stepped forward from his back foot, off the crease to try a cover drive, but the sudden shift in weight, threw him slightly off balance, hampering his technique, the ball shot past him, and the stumps too, as the leather seam kissed the wicket but the bales stayed put denying prince the chance to dismiss Virat Kohli.
Prince groaned as he walked back.
3rd Ball: This time he came in faster than ever, but as Prince released he smirked, he didn't quite let his arm rotate to it's maximum capabilities, the ball slower than his usual pace, went for a full delivery, a yorker but slow as hell, Prince watched with trepidation, but just like he had expected, Virat mistimed the shot, up in the air, straight up in the air, Rishabh Pant ran forwards past the stump and dove with all his might into the air, catching the ball in his gloves and Prince fell onto him and so did the rest of the team as Kohli now dismissed walked back to the dug out, and Hardik Pandya appeared. Dhoni took striker for Prince's next ball.
4th Ball: Prince came in slower and bated his breath before swinging his arm ferociously fast, deceptively fast almost, as the bouncer crashed into Dhoni's way, but captain, cool as always, stroked the ball to mid-on, but was unable to run due to the extra power on the shot, seeing the ball to Sundar who collected it simply.
5th Ball: Prince came barrelling this time, with plans to slow the ball at the very end, but something caught his attention in Dhoni's eyes, a hint of recognition, the man knew that it would be a slower ball, so why not surprise him. Prince flew and let the ball cascade into the ground, Dhoni had stepped out from his crease, lunging onto his front foot to sweep what he thought would be a slow ball, but it whizzed past him into Pant's gloves, who did not hesitate to stump him. Captain Cool dismissed. Prince had three wickets in total and all three were of the beat players, Rohit, Dhoni and Kohli. He ran to his team and celebrated with them as they watched Suresh Raina come on for Dhoni.
6th Ball: Prince bowled fast to Raina as it was his first ball on strike, but with all the experience in him, he swatted it away past Gill at cover who chased after it, but they got what they desired, two runs.
The last two overs were terrible, Pandya and Raina were both relentless batsmen, who now had just two overs to play and batsmen in hand, they would hit crazy, three sixes on Sundar, and despite hitting a six and two fours in the last over against Arshdeep, the young bowler had the last laugh, smashing Pandya's stumps on the very last ball of the first innings which had now come to an end.
Prince and the boy's walked back to their dug out, exhausted and weary of the big total thye must chase.
India Seniors: 201/5
Required Run Rate to win: 10.05
Prince stuffed his mouth with a banana before he could swear and he ate it slowly thinking in his head to the system...