Richmond Hill Liberty Cricket Club (RHLCC) is the New York National Cricket League (NYNCL), 2020, 30-Overs champions. RHLCC defeated Everest/ACS (E/ACS) in the final played on Sunday, October 18th at the Baisley Pond Park at 150th Street. Dino Chooweenam, Altaaf Habibulla, and Neive McNally led the individual performances for RHLCC. Chooweenam scored 49 and bowled a miserly 6 overs for just 12 runs while Habibulla and McNally picked up 4 and 3 wickets respectively to secure the win.
Captain Trevor Henry called correctly at the 11:15 AM toss and elected to have his side take first-strike. Chooweenam and Azeem Khan partnered for a 75-runs opening partnership into the 10th over. After hammering 3 fours and 4 maximums the consistent Chooweenam fell, caught at the boundary for 49. His departure started a shaky period in the RHLCC batting with the side losing wickets consistently while E/ACS pulled back the run rate.
Jamaican national player, Damion Jacobs, and Roberto Simpson were primarily responsible for the holdup. They both finished with figures of 2 wickets for 24 runs off 6 overs bowling in the middle. Batting at number 8, Keron Sewnarine, staged a late order resistance striking 1 boundary and 1 maximum. He scored a 19-ball, 23 to help RHLCC to 176 for 9 at the end of the 30th over. Deveshwari Prashad and Wasim Haslim also picked up 2 wickets each while Raun Johnson bagged one.
Needing to defend 5.9 runs per over RHLCC struck immediately in the 2nd over via the run-out route. Habibulla would then rip the heart out of the E/ACS batting lineup with a spell of 6 overs, 1 maiden, 4 wickets for 20 runs. Chooweenam partnered with Habibulla at the other end to leave the score at 50 for 5 after then 15 over.
Captain, Jeetendra Sookdeo, batting at number three held his nerves nicely through it all and stared a steady foundation. He found some support from Jacobs, but it was mostly his lone hand of 99 off 92 balls which kept the match interesting for the several hundred fans. Sookdeo struck 6 fours and 7 maximums as he threatened to rescue his team.
Neive McNally, was better to the task, however. Picking up the attack in the 29th over with E/ACS needing 27 runs off 12 balls and with Sookdeo and Jacobs being set on a 73-runs partnership, McNally delivered trumps. He took out Jacobs off the first ball, then hooked the big fish, Sukhdeo, the very next ball. All thanks to a sharp catch by Chooweenam at the point boundary. He then had Johnson caught smartly by Sewnarine at the long-off boundary all the while only giving up 2 runs in the over.
Needing to defend 25 off the last over, Sewnarine, knocked over the final batsman to secure the 20 runs victory for #TheBlueNation.
Dino Chooweenam was named the final’s Most Valuable Player while Habibulla picked up the best bowler award. Sookhdeo took home the best batsman’s award.
RHLCC would like to thank the NYNCL and its administrators for a wonderful 2020 season in both the Saturday and Sunday leagues and wish them continued success in the ongoing T20 competitions. We would also like to thank all the teams that competed against us for their sportsmanship. Finally, the management of RHLCC would like to thank all of our players and sponsors for their continued commitment and support in 2020.
The 2020 Liberty Sports Club Inc. is based in Queens, New York, and is locally supported by SVC Sawh Voltcomm, Century 21 Professional at 119-17 Rockaway Blvd, Galaxy Maids, Rockaway Group of Companies, EBS, LLC, and Cricket Helmet Covers, Inc. The club has open membership to all who are interested. Reach out to us via our social media sites by searching ‘Richmond Hill Liberty Cricket Club’ or @LibertySportsC and www.LibertySportsClub.org.
