By Saif Yasin
On a humid summer day, Superstars won the toss and elected to bat first against the Red Storm during the second round of the 2011 NYPD T20 Tournament. In the absence of usual skipper Imdad Khan, deputy Rocky Kowchai took over as captain.
Travis Ross 86 included thirteen fours and three sixes. Photo by Shiek Mohamed
Openers Trevis Ross and Ryan Hussain once again opened the batting for Superstars but fell under the gun quickly as Ryan Hussain was caught for 2.
To add to the Superstars woes the next batsmen, Saif Yasin, was run out for 4 and Rocky Kowchai was given out without scoring on what seemed to be a questionable stumping. All the while Ross was keeping his composure in the blistering heat as he blasted the Red Storm bowlers to all parts of the ground. With Ross at the crease, Superstars seemed to be on pace to put up a score of 200 plus, but with wickets tumbling at the other end that task became harder.
Ross eventually fell for a well played 86 that included thirteen 4s and three monstrous 6s, he was the only Superstars batsmen to make it into the double figures. The Superstars were greatly aided with 20 Red Storm extras. In the end the Superstars were only able to muster up 155 all out.
Inning Summary: Superstars all out for 155 in 18 overs (Trevis Ross 86/ Thakur Singh 7/ Hamza Ahmad 6).
A score of 155 was well short of what the Superstars expected to reach but all hope was not lost as their dangerous bowling attack took the field. Anwar Khan and Hamza Ahmad once again shared the new ball and immediately had the Red Storm under pressure. Khan struck in his first over removing the first batsmen, Ashafaque for 0. Ahmad had similar results as Khan, as the two wreaked havoc amongst the Red Storm batsmen. At the end of their respective spells the duo had Red Storms at 29 for 4.
Rocky Kowchai who has been nursing a leg injury took the bowling with spin instead of pace along with first innings star Trevis Ross. Kowchai showed everyone that his spin was just as dangerous as his pace as he took 3 wickets for only 7 runs. Wasim Shaw and Trevis Ross cleaned up the remaining batsmen dismissing Red Storm for 76. This has been the second consecutive week that the Superstar bowlers has been dismissed their opposition for double digits. The teams did an exceptional job in the absence of skipper Imdad Khan as well as Amarnauth Persaud, but are looking to build upon their past performances in their quest to repeat as champions.
Inning Summary: Red Storm all out for 78 in 17 overs.
Superstars is on 40 points and will take on a very strong Lycans team this Wednesday at Kissena Park. Lycans was the runners-up in last year final.
Superstar coach Ajaz Asgarally is very pleased with the performance of his team and is very confident his boys can make it to the championship again.
