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By Peter Della Penna in Queens, N.Y. (on Twitter)
Number one seed Long Island City High School lived up to its ranking by completing an undefeated season with a 39-run win over number three seed John Adams High School to claim the 2012 NY PSAL High School Cricket championship on Saturday at Baisley Pond Park in Queens, N.Y. LIC finishes the season 17-0 while John Adams ends as the runner-up for the third time in the PSAL title game and closes the season at 14-2. LIC lost the 2011 final to FDR High School in a super over after scores were level at the end of 20 overs but this time they came through convincingly after playing the semifinal and final on back-to-back days.
Image (above) – LIC celebrates on the pitch as the players hoist head coach Dharmvir Gehlaut onto their shoulders to carry him off the field. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]
“It was a very exhilarating moment for everyone,” said LIC head coach Dharmvir Gehlaut. “I’m happy to have this championship because my players were very dedicated. They put in lots of work, lots of hours. This was Regents [Final Exams] week. They had to take the exam yesterday and they were on time for the match. Last evening we were playing semifinal here at the same ground. A little more than 12 hours later they were playing the final. We didn’t have enough rest, but that shows how much hard work they’re putting in.”
John Adams won the toss and elected to field first only to watch LIC post an imposing first innings total of 158 for 5 in 20 overs. John Adams had chased down a total of 159 against John Bowne HS as recently as May 25 and also chased down Richmond Hill’s 147 at the same ground on May 29 with 6.5 overs to spare, but LIC was too much to handle in the final.
“I’m devastated right now,” said John Adams head coach Alex Navarrete. “I believed in this team from day one. I still believe in this team. You never know what’s gonna happen in cricket. Yesterday, we scored 113… and we bowled out the defending champion. Today it could be anything. It’s a city final and these are youngsters. [LIC] knocked out our key players and we couldn’t respond to that.”
Randall Wilson struck an early blow for John Adams by removing Mahnaz Mustafa for 8 in the third over to make it 16 for 1. Overall, the John Adams bowlers struggled to make an impact though and it was up to the their fielding unit to pull their side back in the game with a pair of runouts.
The first occurred in the ninth over when Salam Sajib got into a dreadful mixup with Redwanur Khan and was runout for 25. Khan pushed the ball toward midwicket where Michael Katwaroo hustled to field the ball and flick toward the bowler Daniel Singh. Sajib was ball-watching while Khan bolted for a run. With Khan about to arrive at the non-striker’s end, Singh tossed the ball to Troy Mars, who had opened the bowling but was now wicketkeeping for John Adams, to flick off the bails. As Sajib left his ground to sacrifice himself, Khan made a desperate dive to ground his bat over the crease at the non-striker’s end. Khan injured his leg in the process and needed to retire hurt. The whole sequence resulted in LIC falling to 57 for 2 with two new batsmen arriving at the crease.
Two overs later more indecision occurred as MD Islam was run out for 3. Mohtasi Hossain nudged a ball toward point where Stefan Rampersaud charged in to field. Islam took off from the non-striker’s end when there was never a run on offer. Rampersaud panicked and threw to Mars but the keeper had enough time to send the ball to the bowler Singh for another dismissal to make it 64 for 3 in the 11th.
Rather than get flustered, LIC regrouped as Hossain found an able ally at the crease in Attaur Khan to build a stabilizing 47-run partnership. The pair seized on Nevin Sadhoo for 17 runs in the 14th over, including a pair of sixes by Attaur, which shifted momentum back toward LIC.
Gurprit Singh struck twice in the 17th over to remove Hossain and Attaur for 20 off 26 and 33 off 20 respectively, but with the score at 122 for 5 and three overs remaining, it allowed Ahmad Wyne and Jawwad Khan to tee off. The pair took 16 off Wilson in the 19th and another 13 off Mars in the 20th to boost LIC to a total that turned out to be comfortably out of reach for John Adams.
“Last year was a great chance to win the match,” said Sajib. “This year we got the chance again so we couldn’t let this go this time.”
Despite having a pair of explosive batsmen in Mars and Wilson, the scoreboard pressure was enough to force John Adams into desperate shots and make mistakes. Gurprit and Mars got off to a rapid start, putting on 35 in 3.4 overs, but Gurprit swung over a knee high full toss to be bowled for 21 off 13 balls.
The scoring rate slowed down slightly when Wilson came to the crease as he and Mars looked to rebuild by rotating the strike through singles rather than boundaries. However, Mars could hold back no longer in the eighth over and an attempted slog against Redwanur missed badly as the stumps were knocked back.
Images (clockwise from top left) – Troy Mars goes for a big heave to midwicket (1), and misses to have his leg stump knocked out of the ground (2). LIC bowler Attaur Khan (facing camera) is mobbed by teammates (3) as Mars walks off the ground in a key moment of the match(4). [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]
Mars walked off with 18 off 16 and the last hope for John Adams was a classic knock from USA U-18 selection Wilson. It wasn’t to be as Wilson missed a sweep in the next over against Islam’s off-spin and was given LBW for 16.
“I think that 159, it was a number we could handle,” said Navarrete. “I was confident enough that we can, especially the first six overs. I told my opening batsmen that you guys have to hang in and stay there. Once they start knocking down one wicket after another, it’s very hard when they knock down your best batsmen.”
With the dismissal of Wilson, the LIC fielders could sense that victory was only a matter of time. Harmanveer Singh was bowled in the next over without scoring while John Adams lost three wickets in the space of two runs in the 14th and 15th overs to sink to 90 for 7. Zafaar Yusuf held out until the 18th over before he was runout for 25 to top score in the innings and Sadhoo was bowled for 18 in the 19th to make it 117 for 9. While the result had been established well before, Mustafa used the final ball of the match to take the final wicket of John Adams, bowling Zadd Singh for 2 to wrap up the innings for 119, as LIC’s players rushed to rip the stumps out of the ground and wave them wildly in celebration.
Image (above) – 2012 NY PSAL champs LIC. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]
At the post-match presentation, Gurprit Singh of John Adams was named the Best Bowler of the final after taking 2 for 11 in two overs. Attaur Khan was named Best Batsman after scoring 33 off 20 while Redwanur Khan was named Finals MVP for scoring 21 not out from 24 balls before retiring hurt and following it up with 2 for 12 in four overs in the field.
