USA Cricket: Gruny scores century as Lynx maul opposition for second day in a row at 2011 USACA Women's Championship

openingbat — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 13:39:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Queens, New York

Tri-State Lynx player Nadia Gruny scored the fourth century of the tournament on Saturday morning, notching 110 off 65 balls, as the Lynx annihilated the Hollywood Rebels by 509 runs at Idlewild Park in Queens, N.Y., on the second day of the 2011 USACA Women’s Championship. North West Phoenix also made it two for two with a 77-run win over North West Rockstars at Baisley Pond while New York Warriors won by nine wickets over the USACA Developmental Squad at Gateway Park.

Tri-State won the toss and elected to bat on a sunny morning in Queens. The Rebels task against the tournament’s best trained team was made even tougher due to the fact that they had only nine players to field. Monique Mathee and Karen Bayles set the tone for the day by putting on 82 runs for the first wicket in only seven overs.

Mathee fell first for 41, edging off-spinner Ivy Mahabir behind to the keeper Veronica Gumbs. Gruny came to the crease and added 42 with Bayles before the opener was caught behind trying to heave Sandra Ibarra over square leg but the ball popped up off her glove to Gumbs for a simple catch. However, the score was 150 for 2 at the first drinks break and there was no sign of things letting up.

Gruny and Melissa Sandy put on 169 runs for the fourth wicket as things went from bad to worse for the Rebels. The bowling unit struggled mightily, giving away 87 wides as part of 93 extras. On the rare occasions when they managed to bowl a proper line, the ball was usually either a half-tracker or a full toss and the Lynx batting order showed no mercy.

With all the extra deliveries that the Rebels were forced to bowl on the day, as well as the frequent trips to the boundary to retrieve the ball after it had been dispatched, the over rate was so slow that lunch was taken after 38 overs in the first innings at which point Tri-State had already crossed 400. The first 50 overs wound up taking nearly four and a half hours.

Sandy finished with 79 while Indomatie Goordial-John came in at number eight and scored 50 off 24 balls before retiring. Triholder Marshall scored 41 not out off 40 balls at number seven while Shinead Emerson reached 43 not out off 20 balls at number nine. The Lynx scored 65 boundaries spread amongst the nine players that batted. Gruny had the most with 14 and also hit the tournament’s first six as Tri-State finished at 552 for 7. Three bowlers for the Rebels conceded over 100 runs apiece. Mahabir had the best figures for Rebels with 3 for 61 in 10 overs.

Image (above) - The 2011 Tri-State Lynx with head coach Linden Fraser. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

The Lynx then bowled out the Rebels for 43 in 17.2 overs. Gumbs scored 14 and Rupal van Sweeden 11 for Rebels, the only two players to cross into double-figures. Emerson, Gruny, Goordial-John and Shondell Ward each had two wickets. The win moved the Lynx to 2-0 on the weekend while Rebels dropped to 1-1.

At Baisley Pond, Delkash Shahriarian scored 58 off 86 balls to propel Phoenix to an insurmountable lead, keeping her team undefeated as the Rockstars suffered their second defeat in two days. Phoenix won the toss and batted first, racking up 185 in 41.1 overs. Claudine Beckford chipped in with 25 at the top of the order while Doris Francis scored a quick 20 at number seven. Neha Sukhija bowled an impressive spell of medium pace for Rockstars to finish with 4 for 22 in 10 overs, claiming both Francis and Shahriarian along the way. Fellow opening bowler Erica Rendler took 3 for 50.

The Rockstars chase never got underway as captain Rajashree Mahale fell in the first over to Anahita Arora for a duck. Francis claimed Mahale’s opening partner Durga Das for 13 as well as first drop Nusrat Khan for 17. Beckford bowled a tidy spell to knock out the middle order, finishing with 3 for 37, before Francis wiped out the tail to take 5 for 21 only a day after scoring a century as Rockstars were bowled out for 108 in 27.1 overs.

In the match at Gateway Park, USACA Developmental Squad was no match for the New York Warriors. After winning the toss, USACA Developmental Squad batted first and crashed for 28 in 12.2 overs as 10 extras were the innings top score. Spin bowler Brenda Cordner took three wickets for no runs in 1.2 overs. New York then knocked off the runs in 4.2 overs for the loss of one wicket. New York is now 1-1 while the USACA Developmental Squad is 0-2.

Sunday’s fixtures are in doubt with heavy rain coming down in Queens in the early part of the day and more expected in the afternoon. The day’s featured match is scheduled to be the Lynx and Warriors at Idlewild. Rockstars are due to play Rebels while Phoenix are paired up with the USACA Developmental Squad.

USA Cricketer : indomatie goordial-john, Melissa Sandy

USA Cricket: Gruny scores century as Lynx maul opposition for second day in a row at 2011 USACA Women's Championship