By Sam Sooppersaud
It seems that it is not only wine that gets better with age. This applies to other things, also.
Derek Kallicharran of NY Centurions struck 112 in his club win over Camelot. Photo by Shiek Mohamed
Case in point: Former Guyana national all-rounder Derek Kallicharran, (age, let’s just say he is over 45) hit a boundary-studded century to help his club, the NY Centurions defeat Camelot Cricket Club, when the two met on Sunday, August 7, 2016, at Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, New York, in the Eastern American Cricket Association’s 40-overs tournament.
Considering that both clubs batted less than 30 overs each, it was a relatively high scoring game. The match started off as a regular 40 overs affair. However, by the end of the cut-off point Camelot had sent down only 28 overs, with Centurions taking first knock. Camelot therefore was allotted the same number of overs to bat. (28).
As mentioned above NY Centurions took first strike, and they racked up the runs. They kept the scorers busy. They lost an early wicket, opener T. Singh, bowled by A. Khan with the score on 19. R. Balsam joined R. Ramjohn in the middle and they pushed the score on at nearly seven runs per over. Two more wickets fell; this spelt doom for the hapless Camelot bowlers.
The fifth man in was former Guyana all-rounder Derek Kallicharran. He dominated the bowlers from the first ball he faced, until he was eventually caught going for yet another big hit. He played some glorious shots, using the entire field. Derek, an excellent player of spin bowling, peppered the slower men with boundaries and maximums. His inning of 112 runs included 7-4’s and 10-6’s. Think of it, he scored 88 runs via boundaries.
While Derek Kallicharran was feasting on everything that was offered by the Camelot bowlers, his partner at the other end R. Balram, was doing his own accumulation of runs. Not as boisterous with the bat as Derek, but still scoring his runs. He ran out of partners and was 76 runs Not Out. Incidentally, the last of the NY Centurions wickets fell at the cut-off point. With 43 extras added on, the final score was 273 runs all out.
Bowling for Camelot: A. Khan 2 for 46, B. Hardeen 3 for 48, Narine 2 for 45 and C. Baldeo 2 for 54.
A total of 274 runs in 28 overs was a mountainous task for Camelot. Yet they set about their inning on a high note. Especially Dean who showed aggression from the very first ball he faced. He lost his opening partner Damion early in the inning. But he found a formidable partner in Bear. Together they pushed and prodded on. Bear was eventually bowled for 27 runs.
With the loss of Bear’s wicket Dean became more watchful. Narine joined him, but just when it seemed that a partnership was budding, Narine went for 19. C. Baldeo came in, scored 12 runs and was sent back to the showers. In the end (Camelot batting 28 overs) Dean was Not Out 70. The score at the close of their inning, Camelot 174 for 3 wickets.
For NY Centurions the wicket takers were D. Kallicharran, R. Balram, V. Persaud, each claiming one wicket for 27, 28, and 21 runs respectively.
It was an exciting match. Many wondered what would have been the result had Camelot been allotted the full 40 overs. But, as it was, NY Centurions won the game by 100 runs.