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By Peter Della Penna
New
York opener Zahib Tariq turned in a near flawless performance against
South West, carrying his bat for 112 not out to lead his side to a
160-run win on Friday at Weequahic Park in Newark, NJ, on day two of
the USACA U-15 National Tournament. New York finished 236 for 4 in 40
overs on the same ground where North West and Atlantic struggled to
score that many runs combined on Thursday.
Pic (Right): New York's Zahib Tariq walks off the field holding
his bat high after batting all 40 overs, finishing 112 not out with
five fours and two sixes. [Courtesy - Peter Della Penna]
The match began after a 67-minute delay which happened because the
umpires were not supplied with any cricket balls to start the match.
New York won the toss and elected to bat first. Tariq walked out with
Randall Wilson a day after both players scored half-centuries in New
York’s 10-wicket win over Central East.
South West made an early breakthrough in the field when Sahaj Patel had
Wilson caught at mid-off by captain Shakeel Ahmad for 4 after
top-edging an attempted pull shot to make it 17 for 1 in the fifth
over. From there though, New York dominated proceedings.
The 15-year-old Tariq was joined by Rezaul Karim and the two put on a
clinical display of batting during a second wicket stand of 154. Karim
faced 10 dot balls to begin his innings after Tariq started his time at
the crease with nine dot balls. Once both players got their eyes in,
they started to make use of the big field, finding gaps at will to
rotate the strike and keep the scoreboard moving as South West toiled
in the field on a day where the temperature rose into the mid 90s.
“The basic strategy was not just Zahib, but with the other opener as
well, is to occupy the crease,” said New York coach Ricky Kissoon.
“Occupy the crease and play the ball on the ground, keep it flat.
Chances are if you hit the ball in the air, you’re gonna get out so we
use that as a strategy for all the matches that we approach.”
Tariq reached 50 in 89 balls and immediately afterward started to press
his foot on the accelerator, clubbing a six over mid off before bashing
a four through the leg side on his next two balls. Karim brought up his
50 in 68 balls with a boundary off a pull shot through square leg but
fell on the very next ball, driving spin bowler Heran Patel straight to
Sahaj Patel at short midwicket to go for 52. New York captain Trevis
Ross tried to up the scoring rate, hitting a four over square leg on
his second ball but fell three balls later for 7 as Heran Patel claimed
his second, caught by Prabhjot Singh at deep midwicket.
Jamel Parillon joined Tariq as he approached triple figures. After
taking a few overs to settle in, Parillon did well to keep getting his
partner on strike as Tariq went from the 80s into the 90s. Tariq didn’t
stay there for long though, spending only nine balls in the 90s before
reaching his century. He moved from 91 to 97 with the shot of the day,
a glorious heave over midwicket that cleared the boundary by 15 yards.
Three singles later, he raised his bat upon reaching 100 in 126 balls,
scoring his second 50 in only 37 deliveries.
Parillon fell for 14 to Heran Patel with seven balls to go in the
innings, driving a ball to Gagandeep Singh at short midwicket. Mahmudur
Rahman joined Tariq for the remaining deliveries. Tariq offered his
only chance on 108 on the first ball of the final over by Suraj Patel
when he was dropped at deep midwicket, but otherwise he played a clean
innings and deserved to walk off unbeaten with his 112 including five
fours and two sixes after batting for three hours and 20 minutes.
Post Match Interview with New York's Zahib Taqir and Coach Ricky Kissoon from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.
“Just play straight and just try to get more runs and occupy the
crease,” said Tariq when asked about the key to his success so far in
this tournament.
Overall, South West’s bowling and fielding was commendable. Despite the
scorching heat, they continued to chase hard for balls, mixing in some
diving efforts along the way. New York’s batting was just too good.
South West’s lineup looked tired at the crease at the start of the
chase after spending so long in the field and New York showed no mercy
by pouncing on them. Opener Murad Khan was bowled by Wilson for a duck
to make it 5 for 1 before his fellow opener Suraj Patel was bowled for
3 by the centurion’s younger brother, Mohib Tariq, to make it 8 for 2.
Prabhjot Singh fell next for 2, caught behind by Leandre London off
Wilson to make it 24 for 3. Ahmad showed some good skills in reaching
19 to top score for South West a day after hitting 72, but he was
bowled by Parillon to make it 35 for 4 and South West folded up quickly
to finish 76 all out in 27.2 overs.
“We’ve been practicing for a short period of time Monday through Friday
and it’s not easy when kids are coming from different parts,” said
Kissoon about the team’s preparation for the tournament before
highlighting Tariq as an example of the team’s dedication. “Zahid is
actually coming from Coney Island and we practice in Queens so it’s
almost two hours in public transportation for him. So we try to work it
out.”
Parillon finished with 2 for 14 in four overs and was New York’s most
impressive bowler. Wilson took 2 for 12 in five overs while spinner
Andrew Deodat took 2 for 8 in 3.2 overs. New York is 2-0 in the event
and will face Directors’ XI on Saturday. A win will take them through
to the final.
New
York’s most likely opponent will be North West, who stayed unbeaten
with a 208-run win over South East at Branch Brook Park. Arsh Buch
scored 110 not out in North West’s total of 270 for 6 as the team
seized on the very short boundary on the west side of the ground. Buch
hit 12 fours and two sixes opening the match for North West before
Vivek Jayram took 5 for 12 in four overs to bundle out South East for
62.
Pic (Right): Arsh Buch scored 110 not out with 12 fours and 2 sixes
“I think the biggest difference was that we didn’t lose that many quick
wickets as we did yesterday and I think I was also a little bit more
aggressive,” said Buch. “Yesterday I heard I scored 22 off 72 balls so
that’s really slow and today I think I was a little bit more aggressive
which kind of helped and the boundary I guess was a little shorter.”
Atlantic bounced back from their first day defeat to North West with a
seven-wicket win over North East at Branch Brook Park. Atlantic bowled
North East out for 52 in 14.4 overs before passing the target in 8.5
overs. Ryan Persaud took 3 for 13 in 3.4 overs of leg-spin bowling
while seamer Ghous Agha took 3 for 7 in six overs. Shan Razac finished
22 not out for Atlantic.
Central East notched their first win of the tournament, defeating
Directors’ XI by 86 runs at Orange Park. Central East scored 220 all
out in 39 overs batting first. Rohit Magalayapalli top-scored with 68
for Central East while captain Paarth Joshi chipped in with 44.
Directors’
XI 10-year-old player Raymond Ramrattan took 4 for 46 while
wicketkeeper Vivek Barbhaiya completed six dismissals, including three
stumpings. Ramrattan also scored 20 as Directors’ XI finished 134 for 8
in 40 overs. Nauman Khan and Arsalan Babar took three wickets apiece
for Central East.
The final day of group play will see 2-0 North West play 0-2 North East
at Weequahic Park and 1-1 Atlantic take on 1-1 South East at Orange
Park in Group A. At Branch Brook Park, 2-0 New York will face 0-2
Directors’ XI while 1-1 Central East will face 1-1 South West. All
matches are scheduled for a 10:30 am start.
USACA U-15 National Tournament
New York vs. South West
New York won by 160 runs
New York won the toss and elected to bat
New York Batting
Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal
Z Tariq 112 134 5 2 not out
R Wilson 4 13 0 0 ct Ahmad b Sahaj Patel
R Karim 52 69 7 0 ct Sahaj Patel b Heran Patel
T Ross* 7 5 1 0 ct P Singh b Heran Patel
J Parillon 14 19 0 0 ct G Singh b Heran Patel
M Rahman 2 3 0 0 not out
Total Extras 45 (3 no balls, 0 byes, 1 leg bye, 41 wides)
Team Total 236 for 4 in 40 overs
Did not bat: L London+, M Tariq, S Singh, B Dat, A Deodat
South West Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
Sahaj Patel 4-0-31-1
G Singh 7-0-28-0
M Khan 8-1-33-0
S Ahmad 8-0-42-0
P Singh 2-0-18-0
Suraj Patel 6-0-43-0
Heran Patel 3-0-28-3
Sahil Patel 2-0-12-0
South West Batting
Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal
M Khan 0 10 0 0 b Wilson
Suraj Patel 3 13 0 0 b M Tariq
S Ahmad* 19 31 2 0 b Parillon
P Singh 2 13 0 0 ct London+ b Wilson
T Mohammad 9 18 0 0 ct Karim b Parillon
B Chunduri 5 36 0 0 runout (M Tariq/Wilson)
Sahil Patel 3 14 0 0 b Ross
A Patel 3 10 0 0 not out
Sahaj Patel 6 13 1 0 b Deodat
G Singh 2 2 0 0 runout (Rahman/London+)
Heran Patel 1 5 0 0 st London+ b Deodat
Total Extras 23 (1 no ball, 0 byes, 1 leg bye, 21 wides)
Team Total 76 all out in 27.2 overs
New York Bowling
R Wilson 5-0-12-2
M Tariq 5-0-12-1
J Parillon 4-0-14-2
B Dat 5-0-14-2
T Ross 5-1-9-1
A Deodat 3.2-0-8-2