EACA 40-overs Tournament
By Waqas Ashiq
On the first day of Ramadan, where many of the players are fasting from both sides, Long Island United (LIU) faced off against Arsenal. The spin strength of Arsenal against the young quicks of LIU was a good matchup to look forward to for the local spectators. Another very encouraging side note of this match was, that the LIU fielded a very a young squad. Seven players were under 25 and 5 of them under 21. It is always great to see youngsters coming up and performing.
Waqas Ashiq poses for a picture after hitting an unbeaten 107.
LIUCC won the toss and decided to bat first. LIUCC was off to a flier with the veteran Selwyn Mohan hammering the ball to all parts of the ground. It was not until the seventh over when the score was 62 that Arsenal got their first wicket of Anwer Kamal bowled by Sushanta Ray. Selwyn Mohan also fell right after that, also to Sushanta, trying to clear the boundary for an aggressive 48. Arsenal bowlers kept their line tight and LIUCC struggled to start a partnership with Waqas Ashiq watching the wickets fall on the other end. After the 18th over LIUCC were struggling with the score on 119/5.
The captain, Ishtiaq Khan, joined Waqas Ashiq and the two consolidated and negotiated the Arsenal bowlers, in particular the spin duo of Rehan Shahid and Saumil Gandhi who were bowling a very tight line, picking up the singles and doubles and putting away the odd bad ball to the boundary. The pair added 80 runs in partnership for the 6th wicket before Ishtaiq Khan was caught out by Muhammad Ilyas for a very disciplined and much needed 48. With the score on 202 and 6 overs left, Waqas Ashiq continued to tick away on the scoreboard bringing up his 50 in the 31st over. With four overs to go Waqas Ashiq went into overdrive, like a run-away train, hammering his next 50 runs off 16 balls, including seven fours and three sixes. The last assault was over before it began, like a tornado touching down in the blink of an eye and leaving a path of destruction. Waqas Ashiq ended with 107 not out and LIUCC finished with a decent total of 278 from their 35 overs. Sushanta Ray was the pick of the bowlers for Arsenal picking up three wickets for 49 and Saumil Gandhi and Muhamamd Ilyas picking up two each.
Having their allotted overs limited to 30 overs due to tardiness, Arsenal batsmen knew they had to get going straight away if they were to reach this total. However, the opening LIUCC bowlers Tahir Iqbal and Anwer Kamal kept things very tight, not allowing the Arsenal batsmen to do much. Arsenals first wicket fell as Tahir Iqbal pitched the perfect delivery hitting the top of off stump to dismiss D. J. for 12. After that, Arsenal wickets fell at regular intervals and they failed to maintain a good partnership with Mustafa Moez being the lone fighter with a well fought 37. Arsenal were bowled out for 192 in the 28th over with 60 coming from extras. Sajeed Khan, Anwer Kamal and debutant Waqar Nazir picked up two wickets each. LIU should be careful with extras if they aspire to take the next step. So many extras will be punished for sure by better teams.