Tri-City Dismantles Yakusari/Bronx Raider Coalition

Commonwealth Cricket League
Schenectady, NY – They say that cricket is a batsman’s game, and so it is most of the time.  But bowlers sometimes take center stage, as they did at Grout Park this weekend.  Tri-City used a withering bowling attack to smother the Yakusari/Bronx Raider alliance enroute to a decisive 7 wicket victory Sunday August 3rd.

Ryan Girdhary picked up 4 for 21.

It was a perfect day for cricket.  Slightly overcast, but enough sunshine to keep temperatures hovering in the comfortable 70’s.  No humidity to speak of, the wicket was dry and fast, and the outfield close clipped and quick as well.  By rights, it should have been a batsman’s paradise.  And on most days, that would be true.  Not this day, though.

After Tri-City won the toss, they opted to field and defend rather than force the visitors to play the field after their long car ride.  Yakusari were originally scheduled to play Tri-City this week, but were unable to muster enough troops to make the trip, so they recruited some Bronx Raiders to fill out their squad.  Opening for the YBR alliance were Madray and Chris.  Unfortunately for them, before they could open, Tri-City closed the door.

Ryan “Godzilla” Girdhary and Anil “the Hammer” Sahaman dominated from the first delivery, and it became quickly apparent that this was going to be an uphill climb for the visitors.  Both Tri-City pacemen sent delivery after delivery hurtling toward the collective defenses of YBR, but there was little the openers could do to withstand the withering fire of the hometown’s double barreled attack.

Two wickets fell for just eight runs in the first four overs and Tri-City could smell blood in the water.  Without taking their foot over their opponent’s collective throats, Girhdary and Sahaman continued to grind down the batsmen with withering, unplayable deliveries.  After each had bowled their six over spells, the wreckage was significant.  Yakusari/Bronx Raiders were on just about 44 runs in the twelfth over, but were also down six wickets!  It was quite a performance.   Girdhary finished on 4/21 with Sahaman close behind with 2/21.  Simply devastating.

Anil Sahaman had 2 for 21.

To their credit, YBR did not give up.  Rohan made a valiant stand coming in at 7, and Dinesh tried to hold on at 8, but there was simply too much pressure to sustain the effort with so little margin for error.  Rohan wound up on 29 with two boundaries before being dismissed LBW off the bowling of Munesh Jagmohan, and Dinesh fell to the wily Ray Cecil’s deceptive spin for 23, including three fours.  However, that was the only real resistance YBR could muster.  Jagmohan and Cecil would go on to record two more dismissals each, ending on 2/9 and 2/15 respectively.  YBR were bundled out for 100 runs in just 21 overs.

Tri-City opted for a quick water break, and it was out to the middle again for what promised to be a relatively quick chase.  Especially with opener Richie Persaud and his erstwhile Uncle Mike Persaud heading to the middle to start things off.  As we’ve seen time and time again, the younger Persaud simply doesn’t have the patience for getting his eye in, and he approaches each delivery like it’s the last.  His motto seems to be “attack first, ask questions later” and it worked to perfection this day.  After his uncle fell early on a nice catch at short mid-wicket, Richie continued to punish each and every errant delivery, taking full advantage of the generous side boundaries of Grout Park in the process.  Persaud kept the run rate moving, as two additional wicket fell in surprising succession, giving YBR a glimmer of hope that they might be able to defend their anemic total.

However, Fizal Husain had other ideas.  Notorious as a big tonker who likes to play big shots and swing for the boundary, Husain belied that stereotype on this day.  Seeing that Persaud was well in and doing a lot of heavy lifting, Husain was content to stay with him, rotating the strike and keeping the runs ticking over.   Of course, he couldn’t resist the urge to tonk a few himself, launching four boundaries and a towering six enroute to his eventual 32 run total, not out.

But today’s batting performance belonged to Persaud.  The beleaguered YBR bowling corps could do nothing to stem the tide as Richie, calmly and with great precision, dismantled the attack in a clinical fashion.  Fittingly, it was Persaud who struck the final blow with a boundary to wrap it all up in just 11.1 overs, finishing on an even 50, not out!  His total included eight boundaries to all corners of Grout Park, and a HUGE six that almost created a sonic boom as it cleared the trees.   Bowling highlights for Yakusari Bronx Raiders were Hassan’s 2/25 and Shameer 1’s 1/15.

Richie Persaud scored an unbeaten 50.

The game was played with great sportsmanship on both sides, and finished quickly enough to give the visitor’s a chance to get home at a reasonable hour.  Small consolation, for sure, but sometimes you have a day like this.  Special thanks go out to both Yakusari and Bronx Raiders for making this game happen.  We wish them luck in the rest of their season.

SCORECARD
Tri-City vs. Yakusari/Bronx Raiders
Type: 30 Overs
Date: 08/03/14
Ground: Grout Park
Toss: Tri-City
Umpires: not recorded
INNINGS OF Yakusari/Bronx Raiders
Duration in Minutes:
Batting:

Extras 15 (15 wd, 0nb, 0b, 0lb)
TOTAL 100/all out in 21 overs        
Fall Of Wickets (Wkt/Score): 1/4; the rest were not recorded by scorer

INNINGS OF Tri-City
Duration in Minutes:
Batting:

Extras 8 (8 wd, 0nb, 0b, 0lb)
TOTAL: 101/3 in 11.1 overs          
Fall Of Wickets (Wkt/Score): 1/3; 2/31; 3/43