The final round of the 2020 PowerGen SSCL Premiership division took place on Tuesday March 10th. St. Mary’s College hosted Presentation College San Fernando at CIC grounds in a battle that would have serious implications to the loser in terms of relegation from the division. It goes without saying that tensions were high and both teams were desperate for the win.
St. Mary’s won the toss and took first strike, hoping, no doubt, for some early home-field advantage on a wicket their players knew very well. Fate, however, had other plans. Presentation’s captain Tariq Mohammed utilized his very versatile bowling attack in effective spin-and-pace combinations to reduce the home team to 82-6 in the 28th over, at which point Abdur Rahman Juman walked out to the middle to join Andre Seetaram. St. Mary’s would find themselves in even deeper trouble, as 82-6 very quickly became 84-9 by the 31st over, with Abdur Rahman at this point on 2 and the last man, Abdullah Cambridge, coming out to bat. The CIC faithful were surely offering up many a prayer for a miracle at this point.
Young Juman had earned himself a reputation of being a very promising all round player. Now, with his team staring down the proverbial barrel, he would call upon every ounce of skill and courage he possessed to mount a truly epic fightback. For the next 20 overs Abdur Rahman would defy the Presentation attack. Not only did he exhibit a rock solid defence, but he unleashed the full range of his attacking strokes, hitting 9 beautiful boundaries and one glorious shot for six. His maturity showed in the way he encouraged and inspired his partner at the other end. Their last wicket partnership would realise 72 runs off 114 deliveries, with Abdur Rahman facing 59 of those whilst his partner Cambridge faced 52.
His eventual 65 not out came off 69 balls of which only 10 deliveries were faced before the last wicket partnership began. He was able to farm the strike well enough that 28 of his runs were scored off either the 5th or 6th delivery of an over and at no point did he let himself get tied down, finishing with a strike rate of 94. For his courage and determination Abdur Rahman Juman is the Star of the Week.
This was a wonderful, mature knock by a young man who has been working hard at his game. Good luck in all your future efforts Abdur Rahman.
God bless this young man who continues to inspire many. With his faith and dedication carrying him through, we pray he always finds guidance and success in the path he follows.