New York And Atlantic Region U-15, U-18, U-21
By Dyon Ravello
New York Region hosted Tristate neighbors Atlantic Region in a triple header at Marine Park, Brooklyn on Saturday August 4th 2012. The day events included matches up between the U-15, U-18 and U-21 selections from both regions. When the U-18 played New York were ruthless as they racked up an impressive 330 for 5 off 40 overs.
Amarnauth Persaud renewed his form scoring 96. Persaud played flawless throughout his innings after he was given a life early in the innings when he top edged to square leg with neither wicketkeeper nor square leg able to complete the dismissal from the bowling of women’s player Emmerson.
Persaud made full use of the life and never look back as he accelerated, pushing his partner Zayeb Tariq converting long singles into twos. Persaud raced past fifty as he closed in on the triple digit milestone. Persaud would succumb to a low full toss from Waqas falling a mere four runs short of a hundred. Tariq was not a spectator as he played his shots in getting to 74, with Brandon Boodoo playing a cameo for 42 and Troy Mars scoring 52 opening the batting to set the tone.
New York U-18 needing to defending 331 at a rate of 8.28 per over, attacked opening pair with seamers Chris Singh and Bilal Khan. Singh struck first to remove Ahsan Riaz, as Bilal accounted for the dangerous Waqas bowled and caught by the 10th over. Spinners Sajeeb Salam and Hamza Rana were introduced in tandem to wreck Atlantic at the Marine for 124. Atlantic losing by 206 runs with only Sharma Suhkdeo 34 and Michael Noble 24 able to negate the threat of Rana’s three wicket bag and Salam’s four wicket haul.
New York u-15 coached by Rudy John were as ruthless as their U-18 counterparts as they routed Atlantic for 91. Wicket keeper Surrendra Singh entrusted with the ball repaid the favor to be pick of the bowlers with three wickets, Nicholas Harripersaud had two and Joel Boodoo was economically impressive with 4-3-1-2 the solitary run a wide. Surrendra and Usman Ashraf completed the 10 wicket victory for the home side Ashraf scored 28 with extras being the top score.
Atlantic U-21 vs New York U-21
Atlantic U-21 batted first with opener C Van Tull scoring 33 and all rounder A. Pathak 43. New York restricted Atlantic to 175 all out with left arm orthodox bowler Trinson Carmichael scalping 4 for 23, and Faisal Taj 2 for 17. Requiring a seemingly straight forward 3.52 runs per over in a fifty over affair New York could do no wrong. Skipper Azurdeen Mohammed led the charge opening the batting, scoring 29.
As the match fluctuated Atlantic region began to grip their opponents with spin twin Waleed Karimullah and A. Pathak pegging the New Yorkers. Terrance Madramootoo played a cameo for 24 by but after his partnership with Trinson Carmichael, New York seem to run out of ideas as the spin pressure wrapped up bind for a 16 run victory. New York all out for 159 with Karimullah 5 for 33 and Pathak 4 for 20.
The day event were completed with the presentation ceremony as Surrendra Singh, Nicholas Harripersaud and Shahzad Mohammed being rewarded for their effort at the U-15 level. Amarnauth Persaud, Hamza Rana and Sajeeb Salam were the best performers on the day in U-18 play as Atlantic swept the U 21 prizes with Karimullah, Pathak and Vantull the recipients. Members of the New York Region were proud of the day accomplishment as they look forward August 24th return leg to New Jersey. A pledge was made to maintain regional play despite the absence of USACA sanctioned events.
A call was made to include the Northeast Region, which would complete a truly Tri-State regional series. Notable attendees include US national selector Selwyn Ceasar, former national batsman Albert Texiera, New York Volunteer Coach Ricky Kisson, Atlantic Region Coach Basil Butcher Jr., Brooklyn Cricket League President John Wilson, William White of the Caribbean Life community newspaper among others.