‘That was brilliant, Lubna,’ she said. ‘We’re almost there.’

But Lubna was not even listening. She was in the zone, watching Judith and Simone, as they discussed the field settings and how the last ball should be bowled. Lubna took a look around the field to see where the fielders were. She took it all in and returned her focus to watching the ball. As soon as it left Judith’s hands, Lubna knew it was a yorker. She stepped back into her crease, turned the yorker into a half-volley and got under it, hitting it with a satisfying meat-of-the-bat thud. The ball sped to the boundary for a thumping 4.

Within moments, the entire Curry Cruisers team was on the field. Lubna came charging across the pitch, bent down and lifted Inaya up. Both girls collapsed on the ground, laughing.

‘We did it, Inaya! We won—can you even believe it?’

‘You did it, Lubna,’ said Inaya. ‘And no, I can’t believe any of this—’

‘Hey, girls,’ said a voice behind them.

Inaya looked up to see Simone Donnelly, the skipper of the Chippy Champs.

‘Oh, hi Simone,’ said Inaya, rather taken aback.

Lubna jumped to her feet.

‘Hi Simone.’

Simone smiled and extended her hand to Inaya, who was still sitting on the ground. Inaya took her hand and Simone helped her up to her feet.

‘That was a great win—well played, girls,’ she said. ‘And by the way, your team spirit is tops, Inaya. Looking forward to seeing lots more of you both.’

‘Thanks,’ mumbled Inaya and Lubna, quite overcome.

‘By the way, you probably know this, but you’re absolutely brilliant, Simone,’ said Lubna. ‘I’m a bit of a fangirl,’ she added, beaming brightly.

‘Oh, I think you both have me as a fan now,’ said Simone.

She smiled and ran back to her teammates. Inaya and Lubna watched her go, in silence. Then Lubna plucked a blade of grass from the ground and held it up to the sky.

‘I swear, by this blade of grass, that I will remember this day for the rest of my life,’ she proclaimed.

‘I have to say—you’re quite the drama queen, Lubna,’ said Inaya, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice. ‘What’s the fuss about? This is just like any other day.’

‘You’re right,’ said Lubna. ‘Except that we’ve just defeated a brilliant side. On their home ground. In our debut match. And Simone Donnelly just said that she’s our fan.’

Both girls looked at each other and let out unbridled squeals of joy.

Stalkers

Inaya walked out of the Paddington Recreation Ground with Lubna, chatting away nineteen to the dozen. Even though she hadn’t shone in her performance as much as she had hoped to, she was elated that her team had won the match.

‘So, where in Pakistan are you from, Lubna?’

‘I’m from Bangladesh, actually.’

Inaya stopped dead in her tracks.

‘Seriously? Your name is so Pakistani—and you even look like, well, one of us,’ she said, taking a closer look at Lubna.