Sunrise cricket club family. Photo by Loretta Cheong
New York Softball Cricket
By Morris Seecharan
After the loss in the 25 overs semi final Sunrise made its way back to the 30 over semi final but this time they were not bowing out. As they faced National in a semi game with determination as a force to reckon. Facing Nationals was not a walk in the park as this two team is evenly matched and most of their matches are breath taking. However the Sunrise team was poised to battle as National winning the toss decided to bat. S. Sing opened with S Ulla and in the 3rd delivery of Somaru Singh was caught beautifully at mid wicket by Antonio Dallai with the score at 0. V. Naidu joined Ulla and picked up some runs as Naidu was stumped by the keeper off of Rohit Kowlesser with the score at 12. Somaru came right back and had Ulla caught beautifully behind by Wahab with the score at 3 for 13 in the 5 over. S. Hussain who showed some sparks in his bat found himself bowled by Deryck Basdeo. Ravi Etwaroo bowling at #4 in his first over had F. Ulla caught at 24 and in his next over had Award Satar bowled. As all Sunrise bowlers were penetrating and picking wickets National found themselves at trouble at 6 got 39 in the 10 overs. J Satar and S Ali managed to stop the bleeding a little but Rohan Kowlesser in 1st over broke up this little partnership as he bowled Ali with the score at 55 for 7 as National end at 7 for 57 in the 15 overs
J Satar who top scored with 15 runs showed some resistance to Sunrise bowlers who dominated this game thus far as he was bowled by Rohit Kowlesser in the 19 overs with the score at 71 for 8 At this point Sunrise captain brought Deryck back as he wrapped up the side by clean bowl H Ramkaran and R Ulla as National was all out for 79 runs. It was not what National expected but Sunrise bowlers had Nationals batsmen in controlled though out their batting.
Deryck Basdeo continues to lead his team bowling with the figures of 3 for 23. Rohan Kowlesser had a great game for his team with the record of 2 for 10. While Ravi Etwaroo showed his strength in back game with 2 for 14. Khemraj Somaru Sunrise opening bowlers continue to set the tempo in the game taking early wicket with the figure of 2 for 16.
With a low score to chase Sunrise knew that Nationals has capable bowling to defend their total. However Rohit Kowlesser and Roopnarine Dayal Sunrise opening pair knew their plan is to set a foundation. As this pair played cautiously knowing the required run rate was low. Rotating the strikes and putting away the bad balls Rohit and Dayal crafted a fine inning as they made the National bowlers frustrated not having the break through. Dayal who was picking up the tempo driving on the onside was brilliantly caught with the score at 36. It was a solid start as Wahab Hussain Sunrise vice captain joined Rohit. Wahab batted briefly with Rohit but connected for some quick runs as he was caught at long on with the score at 55 for 2 in 13 overs. Rohit whose batting was string was joined by Harris who wasted on time in pulling the throttle to finish this game. Rohit and Harris played some commanding shots moving the score around. With the runs moving close to the target and no wicket falling National lost hope realizing that their hope of making it to the final was vaporized by Sunrise. As Harris hit a quick unbeaten 21 and Rohit made a crafted 27 not out they beat the score of National by scoring the required 81 runs needed marching their team to the finals. It was a commanding win for Sunrise as this bunch of guys bonded together during the hot summer heat for a well deserved trip to the final. They take their game seriously as they are matched up to play Sheffeld in the final.
All the National bowlers tried very hard to get the break through they needed but it was not meant to be against a stubborn Sunrise batting offensive. S Ali had 1 for 11 while F Ulla took 1 for 13.