EASTERN AMERICAN CRICKET ASSOCIATION 2007
Centurions Blast 2007 Season Open

By John L. Aaron
The Eastern American Cricket Association’s 2007 season got off to a very hot start with no less that five players opening the season with centuries, during the past two weeks.

Some of the league’s bowlers appear to have more rust to shake off than the batsmen, who seem intent on getting their blows in, before the bowlers warm up. Among the centurions during the past two weeks are Real Challenge’s Andrew Gonsalves, 110 and Mark Gomes, 138, both not out. Everest/ACS’ Karran Ganesh scored 108 not out against Canal No. 2 Polder at Lido Beach, while East Side Warriors’ Sabi Rafiq hit 120 (14x4’s, 7x6’s) versus East Bank at Heckscher State Park against Debo Sankar’s knock of 140 (15x4’s, 3x6’s) for East Bank, in a losing cause.

Atlantis’ Lennox Cush scored 109 in his debut for new team Atlantis, and against Unified Ambassadors, last weekend at Brentwood.

With two weeks into the season, some teams are still making adjustments to their front-line players, while sounding out the opposition. There are fourteen teams competing in the 2007 EACA season’s 40-Overs competition. With the departure of New York Challengers from the league, several of the players from that team now populate Real Challenge of New York, while some others have joined other teams. For two years New York Challengers led by the USA’s skipper Steve Massiah, and including some of the more accomplished players in the region, enjoyed winning some of the league’s championships. Therefore, it was somewhat surprising, when the team did not reapply to remain a part of the EACA this year.

Match Round-Ups To-date

Real Challenge defeated Hillside by 239 runs: Real Challenge Batting: M. Gomes, 138 n.o., A. Gonsalves, 138 n.o., P. Mahabir, 33. Hillside Bowling: A. Hamdany 1 for 43.

Hillside Batting: A. Hamdany, 10, M. Harrichan, 8. Real Challenge Bowling: K. Darlington 5 for 7, D. McDonald 3 for 26.

East Side Warriors defeated East Bank by 47 runs at Heckscher II. East Side Warriors:
261 for 7 in 35 overs. S. Rafique, 120, S. Alvi, 52. East Bank Bowling: S. Das 3 for 43.
East Bank: 214 for 7 in 35 overs. D. Sankar, 140. Kashif 3 for 40.

Atlantis defeated Bayshore Tigers by 48 runs at Heckscher I. Atlantis batting: C. Mendonca 31. Bayshore tigers Bowling: Arif 4 for 44.
Bayshore Tigers: 196 for 8. Arif, 41, S. Carter, 31. H. Sheriff 2 for 24, C. Mendonca and C. Sandy 2 for 32 each.

Richmond Hill defeated Seawell by 44 runs at Baisley Pond Park. Richmond Hill Batting: 210 for 8 in 40 overs. T. Balwant, 79, L. Udai, 24. Seawell Bowling: L. Bennie 4 for 46.
Seawell: 166 all out in 30.5 overs. A. Harripersaud, 79, M. Harripersaud, 31. S. A. Mohammed 3 for 10. Raghubar 3 for 38.

East Bank defeated Bayshore Tigers by 105 runs. East Bank Batting: 206 for 5 in 33 overs. S. Dass, 50, D. Sankar, 45, R. Sankar, 33. Bayshore Tigers Bowling: Asif 2 for 22.

Bayshore Tigers Batting: Ubad 34 n.o., Umar, 17. East Bank Bowling: S. Mangru 4 for 16, T. Johnson 3 for 27.

Atlantis defeated Unified Ambassadors by 119 runs. Atlantis Batting: 251 for 8 in 40 overs. L. Cush, 109, S. Benjamin, 75 n.o. Ambassadors Bowling: S. Baksh 4 for 56 including a hat-trick.

Unified Ambassadors: 132. D. Bedesi, 30, A. Roopnarine, 26. Atlantis Bowling: D. Evelyn 3 for 30, L. Cush 2 for 11 and H. Sheriff 2 for 32

Real Challenge defeated Empire Mortgage by 9 wickets: Empire Mortgage Batting: 151 for 9 in 40 overs. K. Preshad, 63, B. George, 25. Real Challenge Bowling: Darlington, Nandalall and C. Evans 2 each.

Real Challenge: 153 for 1 in 18.3 overs. A. Gonsalves, 74 n.o., P. Mahadeo, 64, n.o.
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