… Bim Bodhoo (97) narrowly misses century

By Frederick Halley

TORONTO, Canada – After eight rounds in the Scarborough Cricket Association (SCA) 2019 Elite League tournament, Hawaiian Arctic Cricket Club (HACC) have maintained their dominance at the top of the table with 75 points, their latest victory coming last Saturday against Knightly at the Ashtonbee Number One ground, Scarborough.

Occupying the second spot are rivals, Ambassadors, on 65 points from nine games while third-placed Highland Creek are on 50 from seven and Victoria Park 40 from eight.
HACC’s latest win in the 50-over tournament came via a six-wicket thrashing of lowly-placed Knightly following a brilliant 97 from opener Bim Bodhoo and 44 from former Guyana Under-19 player Harrinarine Chattergoon.

Set 211 for victory after restricting their opponents to 210 all out in 39.1 overs, HACC raced to 211 for four in 26.5 overs with Bodhoo narrowly missing out on a well-deserved century, smashing 10 sixes and four fours in the process.

The left-handed Bodhoo shared an opening stand of 58 with Chattergoon and later dominated a second-wicket partnership of 111 with Azhad Amidon whose contribution was 27.

Earlier, Knightly were in dire straits at 82 for six before a blistering seventh-wicket partnership between Faisal Hasan (59) and Abdul Manan (40) brought some respectability to the score.

Hasan’s knock included a four and six sixes while Manan struck three fours and three sixes. Skipper Waqar Malik also hit a valuable 42 with three fours and six sixes as fast-medium bowler Jerome Jack jolted the top-order with the impressive figures of four for 48, bowling 10 overs non-stop at the start of the innings. Chattergoon supported with three for 41 from 7.1 overs.

In the previous encounter, played at the same venue, HACC defeated Ambassadors by 132 runs. Asked to take first strike, HACC reached an impressive 292 all out in 43.3 overs before restricting their opponents to 160 for nine in 50 overs.

Opener Anil Samuel led the way with a belligerent 72 with six sixes and four fours while consistent scores were recorded by Zaheer Allard (53: three fours and five sixes), Raja Pooran (49: four fours and four sixes) and skipper Krishnadat Ramoo (43: three fours and a six). Abhay Vashi took three for 51 and Neil Ramkissoon two for 26.

For Ambassadors, Abhay also scored 34 while there were two wickets each for Ramoo, Troy Gonsalves and Bodhoo for 13, 20 and 21 runs respectively.

HACC made light work of Bilal at Ashtonbee Number Two after dismissing them for 88 in 32. 4 overs, and reaching the required target in 18.4 overs. Bodhoo, who earlier claimed three for 16, was undefeated on 39. Allando Minott grabbed two for two and Ramoo two for 21.

Set 171 for victory at Terry Fox, HACC huffed and puffed to 173 for eight in 45.4 overs versus Janbaaz, with president Narchand ‘Archie’ Mohan requiring to battle towards the end with number nine Abdul Ramzan (15 not out) after playing with 10 players. Left-arm spinner Bodhoo was again among the wickets with four for 19 from 10 overs.

HACC and Victoria Park will clash in a return fixture at Ashtonbee Number Two on Sunday, August 11.