By Saif Yasin
On an overcast day in Brentwood New York, Big Apple Cricket Club won the toss and elected to field first against a depleted Bayshore Tigers team. To open the batting for Bayshore was skipper Shawn Carter and Kabir Javed , while Telston Johnson and Charlton Senior shared the duty of bowling the new ball. As is the case with most pace bowlers maintaining a steady line is never an easy task and spectators saw how hard it really was on this day, Charlton Senior had this problem as he conceded 18 runs in his first two overs, thirteen of them being wides.
Mark Gomes hit an unbeaten 66 which included 8 fours and 4 sixes. Photo by Shiek Mohamed
This led captain Zaheer Safffie pulling the pacer in the 6th over, all the while Johnson tormented the opening the batsmen with his astonishing pace, variation and line and length. This would pay off in the 7th over when Shawn Carter was trapped LBW by Johnson for 10. This wicket would be the first of three for Johnson as he and left arm spinner Kumar Nandalall destroyed Bayshore’s middle order. Towards the end of their spells the two bowlers left Bayshore reeling at 78 for 6 which included four ducks by the Bayshore batsmen. As the overs winded down the Bayshore batsmen showed a little resistance as they were able to get into triple digits, however their demise was inevitable when both Shawn Thompson and Mark A. Gomes took two wickets each in one of their overs. Bayshore would reach the meager total of 110 all out in 31 overs.
Inning Summary
Bayshore Tigers: 111 all out (KabirJaved 28/ AyyazChaudry 18 not out/ Angel Acharia 12)
B.A.C.C.: Telston Johnson 8-1-29-3/ Kumar Nandalall 7-1-14-2 / Shawn Thompson 2-0-10-2
In response to Bayshore’s lackluster batting total, Big Apple opened the batting with usual openers Mark Gomes and Mark A. Gomes, for Bayshore former West Indies pacer Adam Sanford and Ayyaz Chaudry shared the new ball. Both batsmen at first seemed a little uncomfortable facing Sanford but after his first two overs the batsmen’s’ confidence soared high. On the other end the two Gomes seemed quite comfortable facing Chaudry as they knocked him to all part of the grounds , his 3 overs he conceded 36 runs, but he did get some revenge in the 6th over when he had Mark A. Gomes dragged the ball onto his stumps. He would depart for 11 leaving the score on 44 for 1.
In would walk Clain Williams who with Gomes would torment the bowlers, delivery after delivery. The spectators were treated to what seemed to be like a Chris Gayle style batting performance as they launched bowlers all over the ground for fours and sixes. In the end Big Apple would comfortably reach their total of 111 at the start of the 11th over. Mark Gomes lead the way with an unbeaten 66 which included 8 fours and 4 sixes and Clain Williams ended his day on 25 that included 5 fours.
Inning Summary
B.A.C.C.: 111 for 1 ( Mark Gomes 66 not out/ Clain Williams 25 not out/ Mark A. Gomes 11)
Bayshore Tigers: Ayyaz Choudry 3-0-36-1/ Adam Sanford 5-0-31-0/ R. Shahid 1-0-12-0
Saif Yasin is a 16 year-old student at Scholars Academy and a member of Big Apple Cricket Club.