By Raj Balgobin
It was a beautiful Sunday, great wind with a soothing temperature; not bad for 78 degree’s. It was indeed a day for sports and outdoor activities. New York Softball Cricket League (NYSCL) T20 competition (Division 2a) is already underway and Sunrise Cricket Club hosting Unpredictable, sponsored by Kaieteur Restaurant & Bar and Hansa Engineers at Kissena Park, Flushing. A match filled with excitement and anxiety as each teams are looking to register a win.
Khemraj Somaru (left), Surnise vice captain picked up 3 for 13. and skipper Krishna Kemraj took 4 for 13.
First up was the toss and Unpredictable won the toss and decided to take first strike. As Krishna Khemraj huddled and motivated the troops with a few words of wisdom before taking the field, M. Dookie and A Cheitram took to the center as openers for Unpredictable. The new ball has been thrown to Khemraj Samaru; Sunrise strike bowler to begin proceedings. It was a solid start by the openers that yielded 15 runs before the first (1) wicket fell. Soon after, Sunrise striker makes way to begin his 2nd over with the guys focused in the field and ready to grasp at any opportunity and Samaru produced exactly what was required; two (2) wickets in one over and the team was ecstatic as celebrations started. Unpredictable was now 15 for 3 at the end of four (4) overs and with lots of overs remaining; some rebuilding was required. At the halfway mark of their innings they then managed to get to 30 runs without losing another wicket. Progress was made but the wickets continued to tumble with Krishna Kemraj dominating the Unpredictable batsmen in the 2ndhalf.
Zaaid Majeed bowled a stingy/attacking spell and key in restricting Unpredictable offensive as well. In the 17thover Unpredictable innings came to an end with Harold Deokinanan bowling the final wicket of R. Roberto and finished on 49 runs. The innings ended and the Unpredictable was not in the best of position but did not lose hope.
Sunrise Captain, Krishna Kemraj lead his team with the masterpiece bowling figures of 4 for 13, followed by vice-captain Khemraj Somaru with 3 for 13. Zaaid Majeed bowling was brilliant and attacking taking 1 for 4 in his four (4) over spell, while Harold Deokinanan was 1 for 5.
Lots of momentum was with the Sunrise team as they started their innings and clearly so; it was a remarkable show of talent, sync and support that put the Sunrise team in this great situation. However, all was not lost for Unpredictable as they made way to the field with hope and determination.
Opening the innings was Sunrise youngster Nicholas Harripersaud along with Antonio Dallai. It was a solid start as they managed 28 runs before Nicholas fell to G. Gobin for 10 runs. With no scoreboard pressure and Antony Dallai batting in control the sunrise team felt comfortable with the current situation. A very unfortunate way to get out was “Obstruction of Play” for Alvin Barratt. It was quite clear that the game was slipping away from Unpredictable/s and as such resulted was the controversial situation. It wasn’t the nicest of situations for the batsman, match officials nor the fielders.
The game came to a close with Sunrise Club rising to the occasion and quite comfortable chasing the total of 49 runs in just about 12 overs. The guys in the dugout were quite happy with the all-round performance by the players as they celebrated.
For Unpredictable, G. Gobin led the bowling with 2 for 7 followed by Suresh Persaud 1 for 10.