Eastern American Cricket Association Power40 Zone
Liberty Sports Club ended the Eastern American Cricket Association Power40 Zone stage competition with two losses despite half centuries from Altaaf Habibulla in their round 8 game against Everest/ACS and Hemchandarbose Persaud in their round 9 game against East Side Warriors.
Bose Persaud blasted a half ton against East Side Warriors. Photo by Shiek Mohamed
On June 30th, LSC lost to Everest/ACS by 5 wickets having lost the toss and being asked to bat first. Habibulla was promoted to opening the batting after putting up some solid lower order batting performances. The young batsman handled the challenging E/ACS swing duo in overcast conditions to post his maiden half century for Liberty SC. He struck 6 fours on his way to the half-ton. Imtiaz Hassan chipped in with 32 while Bose Persaud contributed an unbeaten 27 and Thakur Singh 19 to help LSC to 189 for 7 off their 40 overs.
Liberty SC started well defending their total, getting rid of Steve Nowrangilall, Tamesh Balwant & Karan Ganesh early in the chase, all falling to Hassan. Aun Merchant (88) & Dwayne Smith (59) stabilized the innings, however, and slowly took the game away from LSC. Everest completed the chase in the 36th over. Hassan finished with 3 for 45 while Thakur Singh picked up 2 for 19.
On July 6th, LSC took on underdogs East Side Warriors at Brentwood. The game had Division position implications since a loss by LSC and a win by Enmore CC over All Star CC would lead to Liberty CC being demoted to Division 2 having been a permanent fixture in Division 1 for the last 2 year.
Bose Persaud was promoted to the opening position when Liberty batted first and he did not disappoint. The right hander blasted 53 at the top of the order to set up a commanding 260 for 9. Thakur Singh played superbly for an unbeaten 48 while Terrence Madramootoo scored 43 as the LSC mid order made steady contributions to the total.
With an imposing total on the board and having gotten rid of Usman Rafique, early Liberty SC was confident of securing the critical win. Ahsan Quadir had other plans, however. The hard hitting opening batsman tormented the Liberty attack with a devastating onslaught. He knocked in an unbeaten 130 to lead his team past the LSC total with an over and 3 balls to spare.
Altaaf Habibulla hit a patient half century against American Cricket Society.
Liberty managed to sneak into the Division 1 thanks to Enmore CC suffering a similar faith when they took on All Star CC. BlueNation will commence their Div. 1 games against MMZ CC this Sunday at Flushing. Follow the progress of Liberty Sports Club and join the #BlueNation via Facebook (facebook.com/LibertyCricketClubb) and twitter (@LibertySportsC).