Cavaliers Out!

Cavaliers Sports Club is out of the play off in the 2007 Brooklyn Cricket League. Last Sunday, players and fans alike left Marine Park, New York, extremely disappointed with Cavaliers’ one run loss in the semi finals of the play offs.{{more}}

But it was an all too familiar re-occurrence of their 2006 loss by 3 runs, with history repeating itself one year after, for the team made up of mainly Vincentians.

Playing against the top team in the competition, Punjab, the Cavaliers team, in a “Tanty Merle” style game of 1975, between Trinidad and Tobago and the Combined Islands, had fans on edge right down to the last ball. They, however, were not able to satisfy supporters, as they lost the game on the last ball.

Cavaliers won the toss and sent Punjab in to bat. They scored 189 all out in 39.4 overs, a score that many did not expect Punjab to reach after being 130 for 7.

Qasim Gooman, 41, Shoiab Chowdery, 28, and Wassem Mian, 22, were Punjab’s main contributors with the bat. Mark Audain’s 8 overs cost 21 runs, but most importantly he took four wickets and had two maidens. Ezekiel Williams took 2 for 23, Bernard Charles, 2 for 21, Mc Neil Morgan 1 for 23, and Dominic Audain, 1 for 48.

Replying, Cavaliers took it down to the wire. It was three runs off five balls; two runs, three balls, and one run off one ball.

Former St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Windwards and USA left handed middle order batsmen Albert Tesheira struck 49, Morgan, 31, and Kegan Treldon Mc Millan, 23.

Following the games, despondent players expressed their disappointment at being so close but yet so far from reaching the final.

“We gave away the game. We played badly. We had the game in our hand. I started to celebrate already.” one upset player said.

“We should not have lost the game. It was too close. The opening batsman gave us a good start. We just didn’t follow up on it,” were some of the comments of the dejected players.

Cavaliers have to turn to the knock out competition which they won last year to salvage pride and silverware.