The Cricket System : Rise of the Pace Demon

Chapter 60: Team 7 vs Team 9 - Part - 6 : The Edge of Glory

On the other hand, the glowing red System panel hovering above Kabir’s shoulder was threatening him with absolute ruin if he didn’t hit two massive sixes.

Rohan looked at Kabir, then looked at the arrogant Team 9 spinners waiting to bowl. A slow, dangerous smirk began to form on Rohan’s face beneath the grill of his helmet.

Rohan took his guard on the dusty, cracked surface of Pitch Number 4. Taking a deep, slow breath, he tapped the bottom of his bat onto the crease, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.

So this is it, Rohan thought, his hands gripping the leather handle of his bat tightly. My very first official batting innings in the State Crucible camp. Kabir wants me to just defend and give him the strike... and he’s right. My batting is my weakest link. I am so nervous right now that my palms are sweating inside these gloves. But I have to do this. I have to hold my ground for the team... and somehow, I have to clear the boundary twice for those two sixes. If I miss this, my System stats will get crushed by that penalty.

The Team 9 off-spinner began his run-up. He tossed the ball up high, giving it plenty of air, enticing the new batsman to make a mistake.

The ball looped down, landed right on a dry patch of earth, and violently spat upward, gripping the dust and turning sharply toward Rohan’s off-stump.

Rohan’s eyes widened. His feet felt frozen for a fraction of a second, but his survival instincts kicked in. He jammed his bat down with pure, unrefined reflex, barely managed to smother the ball right at his toes, and dead-bat-defended it into the pitch. A puff of red dust erupted where the ball struck.

Rohan wiped the sweat from his brow, his teeth gritted. Holy hell... he thought, looking at the crater on the pitch. How on earth is Kabir hitting these dangerous, turning balls for boundaries? Aryan was completely right—Kabir isn’t just good; he’s a total monster against spinners!

For the next few overs, Rohan fought with everything he had just to keep his wicket intact. Every single delivery from the slow bowlers felt like navigating a minefield. Ball after ball would either stay low, bounce unnaturally, or rip sideways off the cracks. Yet, with sheer grit, unyielding focus, and awkward defensive blocks, Rohan managed to survive.

Whenever he found a gap, he pushed the ball into the vacant infield and scrambled across for quick singles, greedily giving Kabir the strike.

And Kabir? Kabir was an absolute hurricane.

The moment Kabir was back on the strike, the entire tone of the match shifted from tense survival to pure, unadulterated slaughter.

The off-spinner tried to bowl tight on his pads—Kabir stepped back, freed his arms, and launched the ball deep into the mid-wicket stands for a towering SIX.

The leg-spinner tried to deceive him with a flighted googly—Kabir read it right off his hand, danced down the pitch before it could even hit the crack, and slammed an effortless, bone-crunching FOUR straight down the ground, past the helpless bowler.

Every four and every six echoed through the quiet stadium like a resounding slap across the faces of the Team 9 bowlers. Their confidence was crumbling. Their arrogant smiles had completely vanished, replaced by pale, sweating faces.

Standing at extra cover, Team 9’s captain, Sameer, felt the ground slipping beneath his feet. The massive target of 298 runs, which had seemed like an insurmountable mountain an hour ago, was suddenly looking smaller and smaller under Kabir’s ruthless assault.

Sameer tried everything. He rotated his spinners in short, frantic spells. He changed field placements after almost every single ball—moving fielders from deep mid-wicket to long-on, setting fine legs, bringing up men inside the circle to pressure Kabir. He even picked up the ball himself, bowling a tight spell of military-medium bowling to stem the flow of runs.

It didn’t matter. Kabir was completely unstoppable. He was in that rare, transcendent flow state where the ball looked as large as a beach ball, and every bowler looked like an amateur.

Realizing that Kabir was virtually impossible to dismiss in this demonic form, Sameer immediately shifted his target. He turned his attention to the other end—to Rohan.

If we can’t get Kabir out, we’ll choke the rookie, Sameer thought bitterly, setting an aggressive, suffocating field whenever Rohan was on strike.

Sameer instructed his bowlers to fire the ball in fast and flat at Rohan’s pads, keeping men right under his nose at short leg and silly point to induce panic. But Rohan held his nerve. Remembering his primary job, Rohan refused to panic. He blocked, ducked, absorbed the pressure, and kept rotating the strike with singles, letting Kabir continue his rampage.

By the 30th over, Team 7 was rapidly closing the gap, and Sameer made a crucial, fatal miscalculation.

Frustrated that his spinners were being dismantled by Kabir and couldn’t break through Rohan’s stubborn defense, Sameer brought his main fast bowler back into the attack. He wanted to use raw pace to blow Rohan away and end the partnership.

As the fast bowler walked up to mark his run-up, Rohan stared at him, his eyes suddenly lighting up beneath his helmet.

A fast bowler? On this pitch? Rohan’s heart began to beat wildly, not from fear, but from pure, unadulterated excitement. This is it. This is a golden opportunity! I can barely read the spin on this dusty track, but pace? Pace is my language! I have to grab this moment right now. If I miss this, I might never get another chance before the match ends!

Rohan gripped his bat, crouching lower in his stance. His mind was hyper-focused.

The fast bowler thundered down his mark, his strides long and aggressive. He reached the crease and hurled the ball down at 126 km/h, pitching it wide outside the off-stump, trying to entice Rohan into a loose drive.

Rohan didn’t hesitate. Seeing the line outside off, he swung his bat with maximum, explosive power, throwing his forearms into the shot.

EDGED!

The ball didn’t hit the center of his bat; instead, it caught the thick top edge of his blade. But because of the bowler’s high pace and Rohan’s sheer swing velocity, the ball flew like a rocket! It flew high, clearing the jumping wicket-keeper, soaring right over the third-man boundary rope and landing over the line!

DING!

[Side Quest Update:]

Objective 3: Hit 1 / 2 Sixes while batting.

"YES!" Rohan yelled in his head, a wild surge of adrenaline surging through his veins.

The fast bowler cursed under his breath, glaring at Rohan with utter fury. Humiliated by an edge going for six, the bowler stormed back to his mark, his face red with anger.

He ran in again, determination burning in his eyes. He pounded the ball hard into the deck, delivering a furious, chest-high bouncer right at Rohan’s body!

The ball rose sharply off the pitch, coming straight for Rohan’s chest. But Rohan wasn’t intimidated by speed—he thrived on it.

Instantly rolling his wrists, Rohan transferred his weight onto his back foot and swivelled on his heel, executing a classic, ferocious pull-shot!

THWACK!

The ball hit the absolute sweet spot of the bat with a sound like thunder. It soared high into the afternoon sky, carrying all the power of Rohan’s muscular upper body, sailing gracefully over the deep square-leg boundary and crashing into the concrete stands for a magnificent SIX!

Rohan almost wanted to jump in the air and celebrate right there on the pitch. A massive weight was instantly lifted off his shoulders. I did it! Rohan thought, a triumphant grin on his face. Back-to-back sixes!

From the non-striker’s end, Kabir stared at Rohan with his mouth open, before bursting into a loud laugh. "Ayy, fast bowler! I thought you said you couldn’t bat!" Kabir shouted, high-fiving Rohan in the middle of the pitch. "Keep swinging like that and we’ll win this damn match today!"

For a moment, hope blazed brightly for Team 7. The required target was shrinking fast, and the partnership between Rohan and Kabir was becoming the defining battle of the match.

However, pitch Number 4 was not done inflicting its cruelty.

A few overs later, Sameer quickly brought his spinners back on. The leg-spinner pitched a flighted delivery outside the off-stump. Kabir stepped forward, his bat coming down in a firm, textbook defensive stroke to play out the over.

The ball hit the dry surface, gripped the dust, and turned violently inward toward his middle stump.

THWACK!

The ball connected cleanly with the center of Kabir’s bat, dropping harmlessly to the ground near his feet. It was a flawless block.

Suddenly, the spinner went up in a loud, desperate, screaming appeal for leg-before-wicket! "HOW’S THAT?!" he roared, jumping up and down, throwing his hands in the air.

Kabir opened his mouth to chuckle, fully expecting the umpire to ignore the ridiculous appeal. It hit the exact middle of my bat, Kabir thought, preparing to turn away.

To everyone’s absolute horror, the umpire slowly raised his arm, pointing his index finger skyward!

OUT!

The entire stadium went dead silent.

Kabir froze, his eyes wide in sheer disbelief. "WHAT?!" Kabir roared, his blood instantly boiling as he stepped toward the umpire. "Are you blind?! Look at the mark on my bat! It hit the middle of the wood! It didn’t even touch my pads! How can you give that out?!"

Veins pulsed on Kabir’s neck as he stepped right into the umpire’s face, his temper exploding. "This is absolute garbage! First Rohan, and now me?! You’ve been giving terrible decisions against us all day!"

Before things could escalate into a complete disaster, Rohan sprinted over from the non-striker’s end. He grabbed Kabir by his shoulders, physically pulling his hot-headed teammate back.

"Kabir! Stop! Calm down!" Rohan yelled into his ear, holding him tight. "Do not argue with the umpire! If you get a match ban or penalty points right now, it will backfire completely on you and the team! Come on, let it go!"

Kabir breathed heavily, his chest heaving with rage as he stared down the umpire.

"Listen to me, man," Rohan whispered urgently, pulling Kabir away toward the boundary line. "We can’t change this call now. We will file an official complaint with the Head Coach right after the match. Don’t lose your head and ruin your tournament over this."

Kabir took a long, ragged breath, finally forcing his temper under control. He looked at Rohan, nodded grimly, and spat on the dirt. He tucked his bat under his arm and walked off the field to a standing ovation from his teammates, having played one of the most heroic, aggressive innings the State Crucible had ever seen.

Kabir Ali — 108 (82) [12 Fours, 6 Sixes]

With Kabir’s controversial departure, the heart of Team 7’s batting effort was ripped away.

Rohan tried his absolute best to soldier on, fighting valiantly alongside the tailenders. He played sensible, gritty cricket, pulling short balls for runs and defending the tricky spin as best as he could. But a few overs later, a delivery pitched on a deep crack, stayed unnaturally low, and skidded under Rohan’s bat, hitting his back pad right in front of the stumps.

The umpire raised his finger, and Rohan’s stubborn, courageous resistance finally came to an end.

Rohan Roy — 39 (68) [2 Fours, 2 Sixes]

As Rohan walked back to the pavilion, the rest of the lower order completely collapsed. Without any remaining recognized batsmen to hold the innings together, Team 7’s last two wickets fell in rapid succession within just two overs.

The final batsman was caught at slip off a top edge, bringing a dramatic, grueling match to an absolute close.

CLACK!

The umpires pulled the stumps out of the ground, signaling the end of the match.

FINAL SCORECARD

Team 9: 297/8 (50 Overs)

• Sameer — 103* (115)

• Rohan’s Figures — 10 Overs | 3 Maidens | 17 Runs | 5 Wickets

Team 7: 240/10 (46.2 Overs)

• Aryan Singhania — 48 (40)

• Kabir Ali — 108 (82)

• Rohan Roy — 39 (68)

Match Result: Team 9 won by 57 runs.

The Team 9 players erupted into wild celebrations in the middle of the pitch, hugging each other and cheering loudly. They had survived a terrifying scare, managed to defend their total, and walked away with the victory.

Over in the Team 7 dugout, a heavy, gloomy silence hung over the players. Aryan sat on the bench with his head down, Kabir was still fuming while taking off his pads, and the rest of the team looked entirely drained.

Rohan sat down on the wooden bench, unstrapping his leg guards. He was drenched in sweat, his body aching from ten overs of intense fast bowling and nearly twenty overs of grueling, high-pressure batting.

Despite the loss, Rohan looked down at his trembling, dirt-covered hands. He had taken five wickets, hit two massive sixes, saved his System points, and scored a fighting 39 runs on a dead pitch.

They had lost the battle today... but as Rohan looked over at Aryan and Kabir, seeing the burning, unyielding hunger in their eyes, he knew one thing for certain.

The war in the State Crucible was far from over.