THE MILC ALL ROUNDER – WEEK FOUR

It’s been a fun few days to be a cricket fan in the US. Earlier last week, USA Cricket grabbed the attention of the cricketing world; the Under-19 Women’s Team went down to the Caribbean and won the West Indies Rising Stars T20 Championship and in Zimbabwe, the Men’s Team came within one victory of heading to Australia this fall for the T20 World Cup. On the tail end of all that excitement was the fourth weekend of the 2022 Minor League Cricket season. With 22 games scheduled and plenty of jostling for position at the top of every division, the weekend showed the promise of a lot of fun scoreboard watching — and it didn’t disappoint. Steve Steinberg brings you the best of the action from MiLC week four!

EASTERN DIVISION

The weekend started off with a bang in the east with the division-leading New Jersey Stallions taking on the second-place Manhattan Yorkers. New Jersey’s underwhelming 115 looked like an easily chaseable total, but the Yorkers started slow, losing four wickets inside of six overs. The Yorkers struggled to find a rhythm and were down to their final wicket when Raj Patel finally took them over the line with a game-winning six in the 19th over. The win tied the two teams at the top of the east with five wins apiece.

On Sunday, the Yorkers were planning to move into first place with a win over the 2-6 New Jersey Somerset Cavaliers. Apparently, though, no one had told the Cavaliers that. The Cavs, coming off a surprising victory over The Philadelphians – thanks to a dominating 101* from Chandrapaul Hemraj – were ready for a battle. They put up 128 and were able to defend that knock with a four-wicket haul from Waleed Karimullah. The Yorkers loss kept things knotted at the top of the points table and the two Ws for the Cavaliers allowed them to escape from the basement in the east.

It was also a good weekend for the Empire State Titans, who knocked off the DC Hawks twice. In a low-scoring affair on Saturday, the Titans were able defend an iffy 99 run total by bowling out the Hawks for just 80 in 17 overs. On Sunday, the Titans could only put up 115 and again found themselves having to defend another less-than-stellar total. DC’s struggles with the bat continued, though, and they could only muster 98; Adil Bhatti’s two-wickets in the final over preserving the win for the Titans. The pair of victories moved Empire State into third place in the division. But they still have some work to do if they want to repeat last year’s trip to the league’s Semi-finals.

SOUTHERN DIVISION

Things in the south were relatively quiet. The Morrisville Cardinals and Atlanta Fire had the weekend off and rain caused one of four scheduled matches to be abandoned. That said, the Atlanta Lightning took what advantage they could from a trip to Florida. On Saturday, the Lightning kicked off the first of their three scheduled games with a victory over the bottom-dwelling Ft. Lauderdale Lions. Longtime Trinbago Knight Rider Kary Pierre provided the power with the bat (48 runs and four sixes) and with the ball (two wickets and a 3.0 economy) as the Lightning were able to defend 130 and win by six runs.

In their second match of the day – against the Orlando Galaxy – Atlanta rode the bats of Sagar Patel (41) and Shamar Springer (39) to post a solid 155. Defending, they were up against both the Galaxy batters and the weather. And while they were able to control the Galaxy, they could do nothing about the atmospheric conditions. Rain stopped the play with Orlando at 100/7 and using the incredibly cryptic Duckworth-Lewis method, the Lightning were awarded a 32-run victory.

Atlanta’s third game of the weekend – a return engagement with the Ft Lauderdale Lions on Sunday – was rained out and, ironically, it was the stormy conditions that prevented the Lightning from doing any more damage in the south. But the two wins they did notch were enough to move them to the top of the Southern Division standings.

The other match up in the south pitted Ft. Lauderdale against Orlando, with both teams looking to shake off earlier losses to the Lightning. In a shortened 18-over game, the Lions put up 147, which could have been more had not Roohit Dutchin bowled a four-wicket final over to give him five for the day. Orlando looked to be in a good position to end the weekend on a winning note, but some serious death bowling by Danza Hyatt – a three-run 16th over and a four-run final over – slammed the door on the Orlando’s chase and they hobbled to a 138/3 total and a nine-run loss.

CENTRAL DIVISION

The Dallas Mustang’s lead in the Central was increased thanks to some strong death bowling and some very bad weather. Having tasted their first defeat last week at the hands of the Chicago Tigers, the Mustangs looked to rebound against the Houston Hurricanes. The Mustangs struggled, losing five wickets inside of 13 overs, but managed to post a 122/8 score led by Sujith Gowda’s 31. The Canes’ chase started slowly; stingy bowling and defense limiting them to 50/1 at the halfway point. A solid partnership between Muneeb Chaudhary and Gourav Bajaj narrowed the gap late, but a two-wicket haul in the final over from Adnan Haroon sealed Houston’s fate. Haroon finished with four wickets for the day.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Tigers, riding a four-game winning streak, hoped to trim Dallas’ lead in the Central but they ran into a buzzsaw in the St. Louis Americans. Chicago’s 153/4 and dominating bowling from Calvin Savage (four wickets and a 2.25 economy) weren’t enough to stop St. Louis. The big man’s pace wasn’t enough to stop the Americans’ chase and St. Louis took things over the line at the 18.2 mark to win by five wickets.

The Michigan Cricket Stars, trying to move into the upper tier of the Central, jumped on Ryan Scott’s back and rode his 91 (31) to an otherworldly total of 227/6 against the Chicago Blasters – the highest score put up this year in Minor League Cricket. And despite half-centuries from Muhammad Waqas and Kampaj Kantli, the Blasters just weren’t in a position to threaten Scott’s and the Cricket Stars’ numbers. At 0-7, the Blasters remain winless for the season.

Unfortunately, rain prevented Sunday’s matches between the Tigers and the Cricket Stars and between the Americans and the Blasters from taking place, but the Houston Hurricanes and the Lone Star Athletics were able to lock horns with Houston taking the battle between these two teams who are struggling to reach the .500 mark and still trying to find their footing this season. Usman Rafiq’s five-wickets were the key to the Hurricanes win.

WESTERN DIVISION

The Seattle Thunderbolts were looking to use their three games this weekend to prove they belong among the league’s elite teams. They made easy work of the struggling Hollywood Master Blasters in their sole game on Saturday. The Master Blasters, who had already lost to the Socal Lashings earlier in the day, could only muster 113 runs while giving away nine wickets. Half-centuries from Rishi Bhardwaj and Andries Gous ended the chase in the 13th over for the Bolts.

Seattle continued to dominate on Sunday, putting up an impressive 182 and then restricting the Socal Lashings to just 87 in their run chase on their way to a 95-run victory. In their second game, they once again took on the Master Blasters and the results weren’t all that different in the rematch. Defending 148, the Thunderbolts held the Master Blasters to just 111 thanks to a 17th over hattrick from Phani Simhadri. Their three weekend wins coupled with a Silicon Valley Strikers loss would put them in a tie for the top in the west.

Unfortunately for Seattle, that Silicon Valley loss just wasn’t going to happen. The Strikers, who seem to have an embarrassment of riches on their roster, put in a workmanlike job to turn away the Golden State Grizzlies. The Grizzlies, who advanced all the way to the Semi-finals last year, didn’t seem to have an answer for the Strikers batters. Despite Unmukt Chand bowing out after a very un-Unmuktian 17, the Strikers still were able to ride the batting of world-beaters Zahid Zakhil, who pounded out 72 from 41 with six sixes, and league-leading scorer Shehan Jayasuriya, who added 49. Buoyed by a six-wicket haul from Pranay Suri and a mid-innings collapse by the Grizzlies, the Strikers were easily able to defend their 205 tally and won the match by 40 runs.

The East Bay Blazers, also hoping to remain in conversations about the best teams in the league, played a pair of matches against the San Diego Surf Riders. After suffering a heart-breaking loss to the Strikers last week – in what might have been the best game of the season so far – the Blazers found themselves facing potential disappointment again in the first game against the Surf Riders. Needing seven balls off the final two, the Surf Riders couldn’t complete the chase despite a powerful 110* from Greg Hay.

Sunday’s rematch didn’t live up to the hype created by Saturday’s game. San Diego limped its way to an 88/8 score, which might have been even less impressive had it not been for another solid 45* innings from Greg Hay. The Blazers pair of weekend wins leapfrogged them over the Grizzlies and into third place in the west.

July 18, 2022
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