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 and Arsh Buch scored 110 not out in North West's 208-run win over South East.

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By Peter Della Penna

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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