Tri-City Overtakes Bachan in Thriller

Commonwealth Cricket League
Bronx, NY – Tri-City traveled to the Bronx for the second time this year, and once again came away with a victory for our efforts, narrowly defeating Bachan CC by 2 wickets on Saturday June 21st.

Tri-City Captain Anil Sahaman (left) accepting the game trophy from Bachan's Powan Persaud

The day was as beautiful as could be, with crystal clear blue skies and abundant sunshine descending on the rugged grounds of Whitestone 2 in the Bronx.  With traffic humming by on the towering concrete bridge beside the field, Bachan won the toss and elected to bat.

Batsmen Steven Ramutar and Bheen were given first licks and found themselves up 27 runs very quickly after Tri-City’s openers Matthew Persaud and Munesh Jagmohan had trouble shaking off their travel weariness.  Both bowlers settled down after the first two overs, and the long battle was joined.

Both Bachan batsmen batted well, but the 20 year old Ramutar showed why he is an up and coming young talent in the Commonwealth league.  With excellent poise and command, he kept the run rate turning over, playing terrific shot after terrific shot.  Bheen hung in there with him in support until the 11th over when Tri-City skipper Anil “the Hammer” Sahaman finally broke through with the able assistance of sure handed Steve Mangal who took an excellent catch for the first wicket.  Bheen finished on 27 runs, with two boundaries and two sixes, but more importantly, he helped stake Bachan to a 74 run opening partnership with Ramutar.  It was a solid beginning.

Ramutar kept batting on with a series of new partners and continued to play classic shots with the confidence of a much older cricketer.  Try as they might though, Tri-City were unable to eliminate the Bachan barracuda as he continued to feast on the visitor’s bowling.  That is, until the wily veteran and TCCC Vice-Captain John Persaud entered the fray.

Persaud has played a lot of cricket in his day, and helped nurture a lot of upcoming talent in Schenectady and elsewhere.  He can appreciate a good batsman as much as anyone, but he also knows how to get a good batsman out, especially a youngster who hasn’t seen all the tricks up his sleeve yet.

With just his third delivery to Ramutar, Persaud enticed the youngster in to misplaying a shot right into the waiting hands of his former buddy Steve “LocTite” Mangal who seemingly couldn’t drop a catch all day.  He finished on a solid 66 runs, including seven 4’s and two 6’s,  batting almost 24 overs.  It was a terrific knock, and staked the hometown side to 143 runs.  A class performance if there ever was one.

Persaud proceeded to eliminate another Bachan threat, clean bowling the dangerous R. Somai 33 runs later.  Somai was starting to get untracked, having accumulated four boundaries and a pair of sixes in his stint at the crease, finishing on 21.  As he headed back to the pavilion, Bachan were confidently sitting on 176 runs with a couple of overs left.

Powan Persaud was next to the crease and the jocular batsman wasted no time in getting off the mark with a boundary.  He would soldier on as Tri-City picked off the tail end one by one, tacking on a brace of insurance runs with quick footwork and aggressive running that kept continual pressure on Tri-City’s fielders.  By the end of Bachan’s innings, Persaud had added a crucial 34 runs to his team’s total despite being bowled by Tri-City’s John Persaud with a wickedly slower delivery that played havoc with Powan’s timing on the last ball of the innings.  He finished with four boundaries and a pair of sixes, and Bachan were feeling confident with their final 198/8 total.  Tri-City’s bowlers were led by Sahaman, who finished on 3/24, and John Persaud, who took 3/31.  Special note should be made of Steve Mangal’s three crucial catches, which would prove to a critical factor in the outcome of the game.

23 year-old Richie Persaud (foreground) and 18 year-old Mahesh Ragunandan (background) heading in for an epic 99 run first wicket partnership.

After a very brief water break, Tri-City responded to Ramutar’s earlier youth challenge with a youth challenge of their own in the persons of 18 year old Mahesh Ragunandan and 23 year old Richie Persaud.  Both have been playing youth cricket in Schenectady for a number of years and are veterans of the Schenectady High School Cricket Club.  With a 199 run target to shoot for, Richie Persaud wasted no time in showing how HE was going to go about getting there.  With a slow wicket, and some juicy bowling being served up in the first over, Tri-City’s own “Power Ranger” blasted three boundaries and two sixes to emphatically state his case that patience is over-rated!  Ragunandan, by contrast, chose to play classic, conservative cricket, but the combination worked to perfection as Tri-City’s Dynamic Duo quickly piled up the runs, racing out to a 99 run partnership in just the first 10 overs.  Bachan’s Rohit finally silenced the prodigious Persaud’s bat, but not before he had pounded out 82 runs, with 8 flaming fours and six scorching sixes that sent the home side’s fielders scurrying through the bush to ferret out the ball from the heavy underbrush.

Tri-City found the going tougher after that, as Bachan countered with some spinners to take advantage of the slow wicket.  Chief among them was the aforementioned Powan Persaud who singlehandedly took the heart out of the middle of Tri-City’s batting corps.  With the exception of Raymond Cecil’s and Steve Mangal’s knocks of 19 and 14 runs respectively, Persaud’s bowling very effectively anesthetized the previously manic run rate to a more reasonable level.  However, with a solid base to start with, Tri-City were not worried, especially with all the batting that was still to come.

While the middle order struggled against the infuriating spin of Persaud and the rest of the Bachan bowlers, Tri-City captain Anil Sahaman, a former Bachan cricketer himself, strode to the crease.  Enduring a withering assault of sledging from his long lost teammates, Sahaman let it roll of his back with ease and proceeded to exact his revenge with his bat.  Nothing Bachan could do to Sahaman could rattle him, despite their best efforts.  With batsmen falling around him, Sahaman kept his cool and batted on.

When the seventh wicket fell in the 22nd over, Tri-City were achingly close to reaching their target, but Bachan were also feeling close to closing out the visitors.   If they couldn’t get out Sahaman, it seems, they would get everyone else and leave him stranded.  At least that is what seemed to be the plan.

But as the saying goes, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray”.  With Bachan sensing a close victory, a call went out to the senior most member of Tri-City: Maurice Persaud.  Maurice is well known to just about all those in attendance that day on both sides.  His feats on the cricket field, both in the U.S. and in Guyana, are legendary.  He has been the deciding factor in hundreds of games over the years and has been one of Tri-City’s most consistent players, always willing to do whatever it takes to secure the victory.

And on this day, like so many others, Maurice Persaud knew exactly what to do, as usual.  With Sahaman well set and batting effectively, Persaud knew all he had to do was support his younger teammate and stay at his end to take the pressure off.  No need to punish the bowling (though it must have been tempting and he could have easily done so!).  This allowed Sahaman to continue batting, secure in the knowledge that Persaud had his back.  It was exactly what the doctor ordered.  With Persaud confidently anchoring one end, Sahaman did the heavy lifting, bringing Tri-City home in a little over 27 overs.  Sahaman finished on 45 not out, with three boundaries and four towering sixes, and Persaud was also not out, with a single but crucial boundary on his side of the ledger.   Tri-City ended on  202/8 in 27.1 overs.  Simply a brilliant, thrilling performance.  Powan Persaud was valiant in his efforts for Bachan, spectacularly snagging SIX wickets for just 26 runs, but it was all for naught.

Through it all (despite the incessant torrent of Aussie Shield Cup level sledging!), both sides played with sportsmanship and class.  Bachan even presented Tri-City with a trophy at the end of the match, as a token gesture for us making the trip even though the game was originally scheduled for Schenectady.  They also served up some delicious food and were gracious in defeat as well as consummate hosts.  It was a great day for cricket in the U.S., and we look forward to seeing these guys again in the playoffs!

SCORECARD
Tri-City vs. Bachan

Type: 30 Overs
Date: 06/21/14
Ground: Whitestone 2 Bronx, NY
Toss: Bachan

Umpires: Vincent
INNINGS OF Bachan
Duration in Minutes:
Batting:

Extras 5 (28 wd, 1nb, 1b, 0lb)
TOTAL 198/8 in 30 overs
Fall Of Wickets (Wkt/Score): 1/74; 2/84; 3/115; 4/143; 5/176; 6/179; 7/186; 8/198

INNINGS OF Tri-City
Duration in Minutes:
Batting:

Extras 20 (16 wd, 0nb, 2b, 2lb)
TOTAL: 202/8 in 27.1 overs
Fall Of Wickets (Wkt/Score): 1/99; 2/101; 3/114; 4/114; 5/132; 6/162; 7/174; 8/174