A Cricket Match

A Cricket Match

            The annual cricket match between our College Eleven and the Old Boys Team was played on the first Sunday of last March. This is the most popular sports event in our college. The college team included four University selected players while the Old Boys comprised the best player of previous years who were still active cricketers.

            On that day, the Principal, the staff and almost all the students and large number of old students were present. At 9 a.m. the play started. The Old Boys captain had won the toss and decided to bat first. Waqar and Hassan opened the innings for the Old Boys. Our fast bowler Shamim opened the attack. He bowled quit fast, but his length was erratic. The batsmen hit him to the boundary twice. From the other end Khalid bowled the second over to Hassan. His very first ball uprooted the middle stump. The spectators went wild with the excitement.

            The next man appeared to be more confident. He sent the first ball to the boundary, over the head of the bowler. He flashed at the next ball and snicked it through the slips. But the last ball of the over beat him and he caught by the wicket keeper. At the other end Shamim proved very expensive. He conceded 16 runs in the third over.

            Khalid, however, was in great form. In the first two hours, he claimed five wickets for 50 runs. All the other bowlers failed to get any wicket. The Old Boys had run up a respectable total of 150 for 5 wickets. The next hour produced 100 runs for the loss of only one wicket. At the lunch interval, the Old Boys declared their innings at 250 for 6. Their captain Naeem Ahmad had played a great innings. He had scored 100 runs.

            After the launch our team went in to bat. Our openers Shaheed and Shameem played steadily and scored 50 runs in the first hour. Then both were out in the same over. After that a collapse set in and wickets began to fall at regular intervals. The score moved at a snail’s pace. Old Boys slow bowler Rafique, was in a terrific form. No batsman could face him with confidence. The last eight wickets fell for only 90 runs. Rafique claimed 8 wickets for 60 runs.

            The Old Boys were very happy over their success. The spectators were happy too, for the game had been very interesting. Our team was not disgraced. They know they had lost to a better side.

Words	Meanings
included	شامل کرنا
comprised	مشتمل ہونا
erratic	غیر یقینی
uprooted	اکھاڑ دینا
excitement	جوش
confident	پر اعتماد
snicked	کاٹنا
slips	تنگ جگہ
conceded	مراعات دینا
steadily	ثابت قدمی سے
collapse	تنزل
pace	رفتار
terrific	شاندار­

Words	Meanings
included	contained as part of a whole being considered
comprised	consist of; be made up of
erratic	not even or regular in pattern or movement
uprooted	pull out of the ground
excitement	a feeling of great enthusiasm
confident	feeling confidence in oneself
snicked	to cut
slips	narrow place
conceded	yield
steadily	in a regular and even manner
collapse	fall down
pace	speed
terrific	tremendous