By Sudharsan Ramarao
Emanuel Seecharran headlined the opening weekend of the Empire T20 League, the premier T20 league in the Capital Region of NY. Playing for Albany Highlanders against Panthers in the first ever game at the new NY oval, Emanuel had an unforgettable day on the field as he followed up his unbeaten century of just 67 balls with 3 excellent outfield catches and then three wickets with his slow left arm.
In a format where All-rounders are a precious commodity, Emanuel is a rare breed indeed as he can impact the game in all the three facets of the game: A top order batter who can bat 20 overs, a pocket dynamite who can covers large swaths of field, and a bowler who could pick wickets with his slow left arm.
Coming in at 3, Emanuel applied himself exceptionally well. He was 36 off 25 balls after the end of the first 10 overs. The fall of two quick wickets meant that he couldn’t take risk early on. He played the balls on merit and played out the crucial bowlers from the opposition that included Tahmid Ahmed, the current New England Eagles pacer.
Emanuel, who himself played for the Eagles in the Minor League last year, then increased the tempo in the last 10 overs. He took a special liking to a left arm spinner as he swatted off three sixes off him and then exploded against a medium pacer hitting four sixes in a single over that went for 29 runs.
He finished unbeaten on 102 off 67 balls that included 8 sixes and 5 boundaries. This was an innings of high quality, impeccable application, and game awareness. Courtesy of his heroics the Highlanders beat the Panthers by 68 runs.
Highlanders made 180 while Panthers were all out for 112. Joshua Dhanai picked up three wickets along with Emanuel while Mike Persaud and Ashok Adikoppula picked up two each. For the Panthers Derek Persaud picked up 3 wickets for 21.
Ahmad Thokai and Usman Riaz of Rangers had a great day as well as they took the Gujarat Lions attack to the Cleaners. Batting first, the Rangers were three down for 45 in 7 at which point Ahmad Thokai came in top bat.
A southpaw with a diminutive appearance, Ahmad packs a punch in his strokes. A clan hitter of the ball, Ahmad hit 4 sixes and 6 boundaries to finish on 62 off just 35 balls. Giving him company were Sahil Chaudhry who made 36 and Usman Riaz who made a rollicking 54 off just 21 balls.
Usman coming in at six in the 15th over wasted no time as he just kept hitting the balls out of the park in a bid to increase the tempo in the death overs. In all he scored 6 sixes and 2 boundaries.
Rangers made a whopping 203 in 20 overs. Chasing 204 the Gujarat Lions faltered for 96. Shresth Sharma of rangers picked up 3 wickets.
David Latchaya made a run a ball 50 for the Spartans and helped them post 153 in their 20 overs in their game against Knights. David, one of the finest batsmen in the capital region, played anchor for most part as he made 51 off 46 balls. Anil Sahaman and Suraj Jogdeo gave finishing touches with 22* and 28*.
For the Knights, Sreenath Chandra picked up 3 wickets. Chasing 154 to win, many of the Knights batsman got starts but could not convert their starts to a big score as a result Knights finished on 126 and lost by 27 runs
Jaguars beat the Jets in a low scoring game by 36 runs. Batting first Jaguars made 118 while the Jets could only make 82 in response. John Florent of the Jaguars was in his usual best picking up 3 for 9 with his slingers.
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