By Joseph Staszewski
Richmond Hill wasn’t going to defer from the cautious, simple and deliberate cricket that got it to the city final.
The Lions’ first batsmen didn’t take big swings for big runs, but took precision cuts for small hits and consistent gains. The strategy again worked to perfection, with help from added runs on mistakes by the John Adams squad.
“We said don’t worry about the boundaries, take the singles and the doubles,” sophomore Naresh Rambharos said. “The rest didn’t matter.”
The sixth-seeded Lions coasted to a 149-147 victory over the top-seeded and defending Spartans in the PSAL co-ed cricket title game at Baisley Park Sunday. It is the first crown in the program’s history, which included a title-game loss in 2010. Richmond Hill won the game in the 17th of a possible 20 turns at bat.
“It’s magnificent,” senior Keeran Krishna said. “We have been waiting for this for three months, since we started training. It’s special because you get to leave a legacy at the school.”
The Lions opening pairing of Rambharos and Takur Racktoo got their team off to a flying start. They lasted together for 11 overs and posted 82 runs. Rambharos, who earned MVP honors, nearly hit the half-century mark, but had to settle for producing 49 runs through 14 overs.
“It was amazing stuff,” Richmond Hill coach Lomarshan Persud said.
Racktoo tallied 23 runs and senior Keeran Krishna added 20. Mohammad Chaudhary won the award for the game’s top bowler after taking three wickets. Krishna put an end to the match with a big swing for six and then a well-placed triple to send his teammates racing onto the field celebration.
“We wanted to win in style,” Krishna said.
John Adams, on the other hand, was left disappointed that it didn’t play its best in the season’s biggest game. It handed Richmond Hill 36 extra runs, including 32 on deliveries wide of the wickets. Captain Richie Balkarran felt his team was a little nervous on the big stage.
“During the year we bowled a couple of extras, but not this much,” he said.
The Spartans’ quality of batsmen was evident, even with its offense sputtering through 12 overs. John Adams scored just 71 runs and lost star batsman Amran Ahmed in the sixth after just 20 runs, with its top four batsmen already eliminated by Richmond Hill. Rambharos said he was instructing his bowlers on where to throw to the Adams players.
“I know where their weak point is,” Rambharos said.
Balkarran quickly changed his team’s fortunes.
The sophomore personally accounted for 39 runs during the next four overs, consistently whacking balls over and past the boundary. At one point he hit five straight for extra points, four for four points and one for six. Balkarran later stood and watched a long drive increase the Spartans’ total to 113.
“I just tried to do the best I could,” he said.
Alix Husain contributed 21 runs and freshman Sajedur Khan made a strong contribution late.
The late charge proved not to be enough to hold off Richmond Hill. The Lions, who had racked up 141 runs in a semifinal win over No. 15 FDR, were confident that its singles and doubles approach could get it done again.
“We were taking it the simple way,” Krishna said. “We were not taking out our aggression. We were playing simple cricket.”
