Sharks vs Rising Stars, JCL2
Sunday April 21 – Sano 3 by Terry Cooney
This game came to a sudden and distressing end part-way through the second innings when the Stars’ Abu Haznat received the sad news that his father in Bangladesh had passed away. With the Stars in a seemingly impregnable position the Sharks rightly decided that the only appropriate course of action was to forfeit the game.
Up till that point it had been a decent day’s cricket. In perfect conditions Sharks fielded first and had a long 40 overs in the field. There were some inspiring moments – KB’s first ball did for ex-Shark Murad, Anton picked up three wickets (the third one courtesy of a smart catch in the covers by Dave Lollback), as did Guarav – but overall it was a less than ordinary performance, and the fact that our Extras total managed to match the impressive 73 runs hit by Stars opener Sunny Rahaman really says it all. Stars made 354, and if their teenage whirlwind Riaz Hossain (27 not out from 9 balls faced) had been sent in a bit higher than number 11 the damage would have been even worse.
This left the Sharks with a daunting run chase of almost 9 an over. We were giving it a good go, reaching 80 by the end over 13, and though it had cost four wickets to get there Debashish was motoring smoothly a run-a-ball 25, and Mairaj was looking determined to stick around. And then came the call that summoned Abu Haznat to the sidelines. As the Stars left the field and gathered round to comfort their teammate, it was clear that there would be no further play that day.
We offer our deepest condolences to Abu Haznat and family, and hope that he’s been able to make it home to be with them.
