Wilson named MVP as Queens beats Bronx/Manhattan to win 2012 NYC Mayor's Cup HS Cricket All-Star Game

openingbat — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 23:11:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Brooklyn, N.Y. (on Twitter)

USA U-18 squad member posted the highest score of the day, 57 off 33 balls, for Queens 1 as they trounced Bronx/Manhattan by 113 runs to win the 2012 NYC Mayor’s Cup High School Cricket All-Star Game on Saturday at Gateway Park in Brooklyn, N.Y. Wilson was named the MVP on the day after scoring 24 in a narrow 9-run win over Queens 2 in the first 15-over semifinal. Bronx/Manhattan reached the final after a 7-wicket upset of Brooklyn, chasing 106 to win with a ball to spare in the second semi-final despite 56 from USA U-18 squad member Zahib Tariq who captained the Brooklyn side.

Bronx/Manhattan won the toss for the 20-over final and sent Queens 1 in to bat. Ahsan Riaz, a senior from Hillcrest HS who was later named Best Batsman for the day, got Queens off to a tremendous start and helped lay the platform for victory by striking 49 off 32 balls including five fours and a six. When he departed, the score was 82 for 1 in the 11th over.

Troy Mars joined his John Adams HS teammate Wilson at the crease and the pair blitzed the Bronx/Manhattan attack to put on 61 for the third wicket in just 4.3 overs. Mars, the leading scorer in the PSAL for 2012, cracked 35 in 19 balls including two fours and three monstrous sixes to put the game well out of reach for Bronx/Manhattan to chase. He finally fell to Taher Miah, the Dewitt Clinton junior who topped all PSAL bowlers with 31 wickets in the regular season.

Wilson continued on until the 19th over. He brought up his 50 off 27 balls with back to back boundaries through midwicket and mid off. He finished with six boundaries and two sixes on the day and will be taking his good form to Florida next month when the USA U-18 team takes on Bermuda and Canada in a series of round-robin matches.

Image (right) - Randall Wilson pulls for 6 during his knock of 57 in the 2012 NYC Mayor's Cup High School Cricket All-Star Game. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

A flurry of wickets fell in the final 10 balls as Queens finished on 178 for 7 in 20 overs. Miah had the best figures for Bronx/Manhattan with 3 for 14 in four overs.

Wilson and freshman phenom Keifer Phil from HS of Construction opened the bowling for Queens and their pace was too hot to handle for the Bronx/Manhattan batsmen. Zahid Hasan of Herbert Lehman top edged a delivery the skied to cover where Brandon Boodhoo of Richmond Hill HS took a superb catch on the run.

The fall of the first wicket brought Bronx/Manhattan captain Asfaque Chowdhury to the crease. The DeWitt Clinton junior had taken his team to victory in the semi-final with 46, but was run out without facing a delivery after getting into a terrible mixup with Zeeshan Arip and with that Queens ran away with the match.

After Syed Islam was bowled by Phil, John Adams leg-spinner Zafaar Yusuf ripped through the middle and lower order to take 6 for 13 in 3.4 overs and easily walked away with the Best Bowler award on the day. The match was over in 15.4 overs after Yusuf took the final wicket to bowl out Bronx/Manhattan for just 65. Phil, who had taken figures of 2 for 1 in two overs during the first semi-final, finished the final with figures of 2 for 13 in four overs and marked himself as an exciting prospect for the future with his raw pace.

2012 NYC Mayor's Cup High School Cricket All-Star Game takes place Saturday in Brooklyn

openingbat — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 15:44:00 GMT

Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook. Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket

By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

New York City’s best high school cricketers have been chosen to take part in the 2012 NYC Mayor’s Cup High School Cricket All-Star Game on Saturday at Gateway Park in Brooklyn, N.Y. The group of 57 players from PSAL high school teams across Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan and Queens includes three USA U-18 selections: Amarnauth Persaud of Martin Van Buren HS, Zahib Tariq of FDR HS and Randall Wilson of John Adams HS, who was named MVP of last year’s Mayor’s Cup All-Star Game.

Tariq will captain the Brooklyn team against Asfaque Chowdhury’s Bronx/Manhattan team. Persaud and Troy Mars of John Adams, PSAL’s leading scorer in 2012, will captain each of the two Queens squads.

Three matches will take place as part of the Mayor’s Cup festivities beginning at 10 a.m. The first two matches will be 15 over affairs as Queens #1 will take on Queens #2 in the morning contest while a combined Bronx/Manhattan team will take on Brooklyn at 1 p.m. The winners will advance to the 20 over championship match at 4 p.m.

The two semifinals were reduced by five overs each this year after last year’s matches ran long, forcing much of the second innings of the showpiece championship match in the evening to be played in bad light. The game was eventually halted in the 18th over of the Queens chase. Brooklyn eventually defeated Queens to claim the championship.

Image (left) - Randall Wilson, USA U-18 selection and NY PSAL All-Star from John Adams HS. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Three schools have four selections each in the All-Star squads: DeWitt Clinton, Herbert Lehman and 2012 PSAL champion Long Island City. Martin Van Buren, John Adams, Richmond Hill, Hillcrest, FDR, Bronx HS of Science and Stuyvesant all have three representatives from their schools. Midwood, Franklin K. Lane, Abraham Lincoln, Sheepshead Bay, Jamaica, Queens HS of Teaching, Newcomers, William Bryant and Aviation have two representatives each. Lafayette Educational Complex, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn International, John Bowne, HS for Construction and Thomas Edison each had one selection. Wingate Educational, which went 0-12 on the season, was the only high school which failed to have a player selected.

Click here for complete All-Star squads.

USA Cricketer : Manhattan

Wilson named MVP as Queens beats Bronx/Manhattan to win 2012 NYC Mayor's Cup HS Cricket All-Star Game

2012 NYC Mayor's Cup High School Cricket All-Star Game takes place Saturday in Brooklyn