Last Sunday, Seven Star Cricket Club and its entourage headed out to Heckscher State Park to take on the home team – New Star Cricket Club. One would think that Mother’s Day would bring some relief on the road and provide a smooth driving experience for some.
Nadir Mohammed struck an unbeaten 70 as Seven Star beat New Star.
But as any New Yorker would attest to – it’s never an easy ride to/from Long Island traffic. One must be prepared to sit in traffic. It wasn’t any different on Sunday either, as it took a mind boggling two hours of stop and go traffic for Seven Star CC to reach their destination, but thanks in large part to a head start, the team made it on time!!!
Having never played on this pitch before, and even though, the team was exhausted from their torturous road trip, Seven Star CC captain Vijay Seonarine strategically and confidently chose to field first after winning the toss. The decision paid immediate dividends as the captain leading the bowling attack, took a wicket in the very first over of the match. Things were looking even better as the second victim was claimed in the 5th over. But the gleam turned into gloom quickly, as in came Waheed Akhtar, former opener for the dominant Warriors CC of yester years. He batted aggressively (76) right from the first ball, until the 17th over, when he was caught out off of Ryan Persaud with the tally at 137. The wicket turned out to be a brief pause, as the rest of the New Star CC batting order took advantage of Waheed’s batting prowess and built on top of it, by adding nearly another 100 runs in the next 13 overs. New Star CC amassed a total of 231/6 in their allotted 30 overs.
Seven Star CC had to score at over 7.5 runs per over to chase down the total. However, Seven Star CC’s opener Greg Sewdial got right down to business with a glorious cover drive for a boundary off of the second ball of the first over. As usual, Moshin Khan played a steady hand at one end, while Greg blazed away at the opposite end. Both players batting to their strengths, took the score to 55 in 7 overs before Greg lost his wicket while playing another drive in the 8th over for a well played 25. In a surprise twist, Seven Star CC captain, sent in pinch-hitter Habib Salman at such an early stage of the reply.
The decision turned out to be a pure stroke of genius, as Habib, aided in the chase by adding a quick fire 24 before departing in the 14th over. With all the fireworks going off around him, Moshin did not get carried away, and kept batting with his usual calm and steady hand. Unfortunately, Moshin departed for a well-earned 50 in the 17th over.
Sarmad Khan contributed a vital 42 not out for Seven Star.
The task of getting another 114 runs in 13 overs was placed upon the shoulders of Sarmad Khan (another cool customer and one of the best all-rounders around) and Nadir “Boom Boom” Mohammad. The pair has played together for the last 10+ years and it showed, as they patiently took what the bowling attack gave them – singles and doubles, while building their innings, and keeping up with the required run rate.
Needing around 70 in less than 8 overs, Nadir started to accelerate his innings and just like that, with a blink of an eye, the score went from 161 in 22 to 232 in 27.3. Nadir hit some massive sixes along the way, while Sarmad provided outstanding support by turning the strike over and hitting the occasional bad ball for a boundary himself. Nadir finished with 70* and Sarmad 42* as they brought the team over the finish line.
Things are looking very promising for Seven Star CC as they have chased down scores of 220+ in successive matches, but they must improve with their bowling effort to sustain this momentum and to reach their ultimate goal of winning another championship.
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