Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan dethrone Queens-All-Stars as champions.
The 2015 NYC Mayor’s Cup Cricket All-Star Game showcased the top high school cricketers from the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) as they competed for the title of “Best in the City” on June 20 at Van Cortlandt Park.
The All-Star team made up of players from Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan defeated the Queens All-Star team by a score of 62-63 after 7.2 overs. Syed Forhaduddin (Brooklyn International) was named both the MVP and Best Batsman of the match as he conceded only 13 runs in the three overs he bowled, including one wicket maiden over. He also recorded 21 runs for the Brooklyn, Bronx & Manhattan All-Stars (BBM). The Best Bowler plaque went to BBM’s Malek Karim (FDR) who took three wickets, while giving up only five runs in the three overs he bowled.
Syed Forhaduddin was named MVP and best batsman.
After a short rain delay, which pushed back the match’s start time and made the pitch very slippery for both the batsmen and the defense, the BBM team won the toss and decided to allow the Queens team to take first strike. The Queens team sent out the partnership of Shafat Choudhury (Newcomers HS) and their captain Amran Ahmed (John Adams HS). Ahmed finished second in the PSAL in runs scored in 2015 so the Queens team was expecting a big performance from him at the NYC Mayor’s Cup. Burhan Saeed (Midwood) was the first bowler for BBM and he got off to a rough start, which included three wides and a double by Amran Ahmed. After one over, the Queens team had a score of five runs. The second over is when the wickets started to fall for the BBM team. They picked up their first as Ahmed knocked a single out into the field, which was well defended by the BBM team, and his partner Shafat Choudhury was run out on the ensuing play. Their partnership came to an end after just seven runs and one wicket taken. Harpreet Rahull (Queens HS of Teaching) came in to replace Choudhury at bat, but his luck would not be much better, thanks to some great bowling by BBM.
Burhan Saeed returned to bowl for the BBM team in the third over, and he picked up another wicket as he bowled out the mighty Amran Ahmed, which made the score 11 runs for two wickets. Keeran Krishna (Richmond Hill) replaced Ahmed and promptly picked up a single on his first ball. The third over ended with the score 12 for two. Biswajit Ramsingh (Franklin K. Lane HS) came in to bowl the fourth over for BBM, and he would pick up two wickets as Keeran Krishna was caught out by Syed Forhaduddin and Ramsingh bowled Harpreet Rahull on the very next ball. The fourth over ended with the scorecard reading 17 runs for four wickets.
Malek Karim picked up 3 wickets which earned him the bowler award.
Syed Forhaduddin came in to bowl for the first time in the fifth over, and he would get to work quickly as he bowled out Delroy Stoll (Springfield HS) with his second ball and allowed only one run on a bye to give himself a wicket maiden over. The Queens team’s partnership of Wahidur Rahman (Newcomers HS) and Alix Hussain (John Adams HS) would be their most successful as they accounted for 23 runs and lasted until the ninth over. The Queens score was 40 runs for five wickets going into the ninth over, as Malek Karim came in to bowl for BBM. He promptly ended Alix Hussain’s run as he bowled him out with the first ball. Karim picked up two more wickets in his time as the bowler as he bowled Shoun Baburam (Thomas Edison HS) in the 11th over and also bowled out Richie Balkarran (John Adams) in the 13th over, which ended with the score 47 runs for nine wickets.
Queens was in a tough position now as BBM needed only two more wickets to finish the inning. The Queens partnership of Rolex Kapali (Aviation HS) and Takur Racktoo (Richmond Hill) produced seven runs in the 14th and 15th overs until Racktoo was caught out in the 16th over, which made the score 54 runs for 10 wickets. Ali Husnain (Long Island City) came in to bat along with Rolex Kapali, but they produced only eight more runs until Husnain was caught out in the 18th over. The Queens team’s innings came to an end after they scored 62 runs. The BBM team needed to score only 63 runs as they came up to take their turn at bat.
Runners-up, Queens-All-Star team.
The BBM team sent Hamza Khushnud (Midwood) and PSAL’s leading run scorer MD Muyin (DeWitt Clinton HS) to bat first against Queens bowler Keeran Krishna. Their partnership lasted 2.2 overs and produced 21 runs until MD Muyin was caught out. Syed Forhaduddin came in to bat for BBM with the score 21 for one wicket in the 3rd over. The partnership of Khushnud and Forhaduddin would be all BBM needed to win the match. They capitalized on mistakes by the Queens bowlers and produced the 42 runs needed to help BBM capture the NYC Mayor’s Cup. MVP Syed Forhaduddin ended the match by crushing a six to give the BBM team 63 runs for only one wicket taken. Forhaduddin also picked up two fours and two doubles in his time at bat while his partner Khushnud picked up two sixes of his own. The victory for the BBM team ended a four-year run in which a Queens All-Star team took home the NYC Mayor’s Cup.