Eastern American Cricket Association
Atlantis Cricket Club handed Liberty Sports Club their first defeat in the 2013 Eastern American Cricket Association Power40 competition. The LSC defeat comes despite a bright all-round debut by Altaaf Habibulla who knocked in an unbeaten 42 and picked up 3 for 23.
Altaaf Habibulla struck an unbeaten 42 and picked up 3 for 23.
Atlantis won the toss and elected to field first, taking advantage of the damp pitch and outfield from the rainy conditions in the preceding days. LSC did not help their cause by losing two early wickets, the first to an injudicious shot selection and the second via the run out route, with just 12 runs on the board. This brought the in-form Andy Harricharran to the crease who began the repair job.
Harricharran played with poise, dispatching the lose deliveries while cautiously navigating the good balls. He lost vice-captain Dilly Khilawan to Keon Lake but then found some support from Imtiaz Hassan. Harricharran struck 3 fours and 3 massive sixes on his way to his first half century for LSC in 2013.
The reintroduction of Casper Davis Jr. into the attack quickly undid the repair job which Harricharran & Hassan were constructing. The young fast bowler smartly adjusted his length to take advantage of the damp pitch, trapping both Harricharran (52) and Hassan leg before wicket going on to take 2 more wickets to finish with 4 for 20 off of his 8 overs.
Altaaf Habibulla stepped in with half of the LSC batting back on the side line and played an experience hand for 20 year old. He cautiously played himself in while rotating the strike then upped the tempo as the inning neared the end. On the other end, however, wickets kept falling till eventually the inning was ended after the 36th over. Habibulla knocked 2 fours and 2 sixes in his inning of 42 not out which helped LSC up to 181 for 9.
Andy Harricharran top scored for LSC with an attractive 52.
The men in blue got off to a good start, picking up an early wicket but that quickly changed as Nick Stanford joined Henderson Blades and put on a 120 runs partnership before Blades got out to Habibulla for 42. Stanford’s chancy inning was highlighted with 4 fours and 5 sixes before he was trapped leg before by Habibulla for 83. The all-rounder would also account for Kavishwar Bridgepaul before Alex Amsterdam and Jason Greaves navigated their team across the line in the 28th over.
Bowling for LSC Habibulla finished with figures of 3 for 23 while Thakur Singh picked up 1 for 37.
Liberty Sports Club continues their tournament against the experienced and Richmond Hill Sports Club this Sunday at the popular Baisley Cricket Cage. Follow the progress of Liberty Sports Club and join the #BlueNation via Facebook (facebook.com/LibertyCricketClubb) and twitter (@LibertySportsC).