New York Region Inter-League
By Dervon Wallace
A resurgent Metropolitan Cricket League (MCL) defeated New York Cricket League (NYCL) by 65 runs in the New York Region Inter-league competition at Floyd Bennett Cricket Field in Brooklyn on 06/28/14.
Steve Massiah (left) and Faisal Taj shared in 63 runs opening stand.
MCL who lost their first game a week ago made numerous changes led by talismanic tactician Steve Massiah who looks committed and motivated to the task at hand and was very influential in team planning and tactics. In a game reduced to 15 overs, Massiah won the toss and made no hesitation choosing to bat first.
Faisal Taj and Massiah opened the batting and shared in a 63 runs from 40 balls partnership. Taj nick name “Hit Man” because of his style of batting however it was Massiah who took the fight to the bowlers playing in his usual elegant manner, the right hander who continues to impress cricket lovers with his batting, played some delightful cricket shot that were appreciated by all in attendance top scoring with 48 (24 balls 6×4 2×6).
USA middle-order batsman Barrington Bartley was unbeaten on 29 (14 balls 2×4), Zeniffe Fowler made 27 (16 balls 1×4 2×6) and Taj 20 (18 balls 2×4). A Sumasar finished with 3 for 32 from 3 overs and there was a wicket apiece for M. Lionel and Shiv Kumarlall as MCL rocked up 157 for 5.
In reply NYCL could not get any partnership going as Massiah got his tactics right with field placing and bowling changes surprising many when he opted to use Javien Thomas to open the bowling ahead of the more fancy bowlers and as it turned out Thomas justified the faith put in him by his captain and wreak havoc on the NYCL batters claiming 4 for 21 from his 3 overs as NYCL was dismissed for 92. Marvin Darlington grabbed 2 for 15, Bartley 1 for 13 from 3 overs and George Adams 1 for 23 from 3 overs. S. Kumarlall top score with 32 (13 balls 3×4 3×6), D. Mongreo 17 and R. Rajpath 19 the only other batsman to reach double figures.
Javien Thomas span 4 for 21 from 3 overs.
When quizzed about his decision to open the bowling with Thomas, Massiah reasoned that he’s always thinking and reading the game and when he batted he observed that less pace and variation was the way to go hence he thought Thomas would be a good fit. He also noted he’s not taking these games lightly as his intention is to play as much competitive cricket as possible getting Sharpe so if selected he’s fully ready to give it his all as his goal is to help team USA qualify for division 2 later this year.
Final scores in the match MCL 157 for 5 from 15 overs and NYCL 92 all out in 14.5 overs