New York Softball Cricket League
Cavaliers Scripted Convincing Win over Mafia

May 21st, 2009
Cavaliers scripted a convincing seven-wicket win over Mafia to move level with Liberty Knights on the points standing (45 points) with five wins. Cavaliers won the toss yet again and offered the opposition to take first strike. Opening the innings for Mafia were C. Lall and A. Beaharry, the star in Mafia’s win over Country boys. It took a stupendous piece of fielding from Michael Persaud, who flung himself to his right to snap up C. Lall for 5, which separated the openers and started Mafia’s downfall.

A. Beharry was next to follow, trying to clear the mid-off boundary and was well caught for 8 by Gautam Persaud running in from the boundary. P. Takhur entered at number 4, but failed to impress and was caught for 3.

Navin Sahadeo bowled exceptionally well and accounted for the first three wickets that fell in the opening overs of Mafia inning. The accomplished V. Singh, the sensation in last week’s victory, and D. Samaroo saw Mafia to the break. At the interval Mafia were reasonably placed at 50 for 3. They looked poised for a big assault, with 7 wickets in tact and 12 overs remaining, but only managed to add 55 runs, ending with a modest total of 105.

V. Singh and D. Samaroo shared a valuable partnership of 25, however just as they were settling into their grove, D. Samaroo was bowled for patient innings of 18 off the bowling of Mahendra Persaud. V. Singh played the anchor role and looked in good nick, driving through the off side at will, until he drove in the air to short mid-off and Earpalli Sahadeo took an excellent catch over his head. He played beautifully for his 28. V. Sankar and V. Sugrim tried to increase the scoring rate, hitting fours boundaries between them, before both failed trying to clear the ropes and was caught for 9 and 10 respectively.

Surprisingly, Mafia did not manage a boundary in the first half of their inning, which gave an indication of how tight Cavaliers bowlers kept them. Navin Sahadeo and Earpalli Sahadeo bowled with great control and accuracy and were rewarded with figures of 4-0-19-3 and 1.1-0-3-2.

Cavaliers needing 106 for victory got off to a flying start. Thanks to an excellent opening stand of 67 between Ravi Sahadeo and Michael Persaud. Both openers were assured and positive from ball one. They rotated the strike very intelligently, putting the loose deliveries away to the boundary and kept the scoring rate up, seizing the momentum very early in the chase. By the 8th over, Cavaliers were cruising at 61 without lost. Mafia desperately searched for a breakthrough to stem the flow of runs.

Finally, they picked up Ravi Sahadeo, bowled by V. Sugrim for a well played inning of 18. With the score on 67 for 1 off 9 overs, Mafia struck again by removing the dangerous Michael Persaud, who offered no shot and was bowled by B. Takhur for an entertaining innings of 29. Earpalli promoted himself at number three and was very cautious after the loss of the two openers. Along with him was Brooks Prashad, who gave valuable support as they posted a 38-run partnership. Both batsmen ran superbly between the wickets and put tremendous pressure on Mafia.

As the scores drew level, Earpalli Sahadeo was beaten and bowled by P. Takhur for a responsible, yet attacking innings of 22. He clobbered one massive six and two well timed boundaries on both sides of the wicket. Brooks Prashad desperately needing some time in the middle before the playoff, labored away for his 9 not-out. It was a richly deserved win for Cavaliers, especially since Mafia had knocked them out of the 25-overs Mini World Cup semi-final last year.

The two most successful bowlers for Mafia were P. Takhur and V. Sugrim, finishing with figures of 5.0-20-2 and 3-0-12-1. Earpalli’s leadership skills has been very inspirational, and his bowling equally well this season. Cavalier’s awesome run in the tournament continues to impress all. They will take on Liberty Knights in the last match of the round-robin stage, which will determine the number one rated team in the standings in the premier division.

Match Summary
Division IA
Assassins Vs Enterprise
Assassins 143 for 8
Anand Singh 54
M. Sukhra 3-19, V. Samaru 2-21
Enterprise 40 all out
R. Barron 11
Anand Singh 5-5, N. Narine 2-10

Triumph Vs United Star
United Star 220 for 2
Ward 108, D. Dhanraj 55
Kenny and Davo 1 wkt each
Triumph 109 all out
Vishnu 65
F. Baichoo 4-13, R. Ivan 2-11, Bobby Pahalad 2-14

Liberty Knights Vs Country Boys
Liberty Knight 126 for 9
Ken Sanichar 44, V. Persaud 21
E. Chance 3-18, Edwards 3-34
Country Boys 118 all out
G. White 48 n/o. G. Dow 12
Andrew, Walker and Paul Virappenn took 2 wkts each

Hustlers won Vs Bravehearts

Division IB
Titans Vs Cotton Field
Cotton Field 107 for 8
T. Singh 23, Harold 19, R. Hardwar 15
C. Hiralall 4-10
Titans 111 for 9
D. Singh 36, A. Kissoon 31
R. Hardwar 3-16, Carlos 3-23

Canal Vs Master Blaster
Canal 108 all out
R. Dukhi 16, N. Persaud 15, M. Hariraj 14
S. Sawh 3-14, S. Seeraj 3-15
Master Blaster 114 for 5
S. Seeraj 47 n/o. Y. Shivkumar 31
S. Singh 2-16, R. Baldeo, M. Hariraj and P. Hariprsahad took 1 wkt each

Wildfire won Vs Spartans
Sunrise won Vs NY All-Stars
Ranchers won Vs Horizon
Bronx Lions loss Vs Sheffield

Division IIA
Eagles Vs Essequibo XI
Eagles 99 all out
R. Ramshamooj 16, R. Gopaul 14
C. Beaton 4-20, C. Holder and R. Britton took 2 wkts each
Essequibo XI 103 for 1
C. Holder 41 n/o, W. Blackman 28 n/o.
R. Durga took the only wkt

Better Hope Vs PM All-Star
Better Hope 132 for 8
C. Singh 27, N. Ramroop 22
R. Persaud 3-8, B. Ramdin 2-24
P M All-Star 134 for 6
M. Karran 46, R. Samaroo 18
R. Rajpaul 2-15, C. Singh 2-24

NY Midrise Vs Rebels
NY Midrise 128 all out
K. Persaud 49, R. Kowlessar 28
Marlon 3-26, Ramesh 3-14
Rebels 128 for 8
Ivor 36
E. Sookraj 4-34, A. Persaud 2-13

Lions loss Vs Waves
Unpredictable won Vs Wakefield
Apollo XI loss Vs Volcano

Division IIB
Legends Vs Ravens
Ravens 109 for 9
Alvin 41, Adjoudia 14
De Morrison 4-18, D. George 2-7
Legends 110 for 5
D. Morrison 38, P. Singh 38
Raheem 3-20

Wolfpack Vs Flashers
Flashers 121 for 9
Randy 23, Kumar and Vickram 17 each
D. Autar 3-22, A. Deen 2-18
Wolfpack 122 for 8
W. Asrula 40, D. Samwaru 24
Damin 3-13, Vickram 2-27

Champions Vs Young West Indies
Champions 126 all out
Rangandan 38, Vishnudat 37
D. Dhanpaul 5-23, K. Williams 2-28
Young West Indies 33 all out
O. Zaid 9, R. Williams 8
I. ramawad 4-3, Rangandan 3-12

Strikers won Vs Buccaneers
Young Brothers won Vs Justin Force
Cricket International won Vs Rising Sun
Falcons loss Vs Invaders