Two of Zeeburg Cricket Club’s (ZCC’s) most senior players, Yutesh Dhanpaul and Balbiner Shivpersaud, have been drafted into the Commonwealth Cricket League currently being played in New York. This duo, having successfully represented the ZCC in local tournaments staged in 2018 and 2019, now represent the West Coast Warriors Cricket Club (WCWCC) in the New York League.
Shivpersaud and Khan had an unbeaten 114-run partnership
In the Warriors’ fifth match — a 30-over affair against the in-form Madras Cricket Club, played at Whitestone Ferry Park in the Bronx — the ever reliable Shivpersaud took his team over the line with an unbeaten half century.
With the match reduced to20 overs per side because of inclement weather, Madras CC won the toss and decided to bat, thinking to
capitalise on the condition of the pitch before further degradation should occur through the vagaries of the weather. They never got things going, and lost wickets at regular intervals, which pegged them back and forced them to go on the defensive.
Leg-spinner Chanderpaul Persaud was the Madras CC’s chief destroyer, bagging 4 for 14 as he used the advantageous conditions to torment batsmen with unplayable googlies and leg-spin deliveries.
Denish Singh was the only batsman to offer him resistance, top-scoring with 29; while
Madras CC could muster only 113 runs in their allotted 20 overs, losing 9 wickets in the process.
Needing a paltry 114 for victory off 120 balls, Warriors openers Balbinder Shivpersaud and Rajendra Khan took to the crease, and began dealing in boundaries and maximums. Their aggressive play forced their opponents into a corner, as no delivery could bamboozle either of them.
Despite playing on a sticky wicket, the Warriors were able to triumph, finishing their innings on 114 without loss in 13.3 overs, with Shivpersaud and Khan remaining unbeaten on 56 and 40 respectively.
