BSL Nights Season 2 - Week 6 Recap

Istanbul vs Lahore

The first game of our evening features 2 teams desperatly in need to get some wins on the baord. Istanbul started off this game playing from behind as the green machine jumped ahead for the first time this year to the tune of 4-1. Looking to build on this lead, Lahore kept the pressure on istanbul as captain Aftab Sheikh hit a homerun to RF and held it down in the OF making a nice over the head grab which turned into a double play. Shortly after, Istanbul's bats came to life as Rameez Siddiqi and Fuzail Takhur hit 2 homers each combining for 10 RBI's. They mercied Lahore in the 3rd inning bringing the game to a tie. Lahore would get 4 more runs in the 4th inning but that would be all. Fast forward to the final inning where Istanbul was up by 1 and put up a massive 6 runs to bring the score to 18 - 11. Lahore had a chance to put up some runs in the open inning but were quickly neutralized by Istanbul handing them yet another frustrating loss. Lahore did a good job jumping ahead in this one but failed to contain Istanbuls attack as they let another one slip away. Lahore's sub Hummad Afif helped Lahore fill a position at 3rd place and did an excellent job batting 3/4 plus 1 HR.

Summary of main stats:

 

Istanbul

 

Rameez Siddiqi: 2 / 3, 2 HR, 4 RBI’s

Fuzail Thakur: 2 / 3, 2 HR, 6 RBI’s

Tamour Sheikh: 4 / 4, HR, 2 RBI’s

Umer Jabbar: 1 / 1, 3 RBI’s

 

Lahore

 

Salim Jaichi: 3 / 4, HR, 5 RBI’s

Hammad Afif: 3 / 4, HR, RBI

Mohammed Al-Sukhni: 3 / 4, 2B, 2 RBI’s

Aftab Sheikh: 3 / 4, HR, 2 RBI’s

Lahore vs Cordoba

Lahore coming off a tough loss were looking to carry whatever little positivity they could for the game against Cardoba.  Unfortanately Lahores story was a short one on this night as they put up a cringeworthy 4 runs on 10 hits. They showed some life to start this game as they put up 3 runs. Cardoba on the other hand did what they've been doing all season long and used this game as a warmup againat their upcoming match with Medina. Bilal Javed hit another one out of the park bringing in 2 RBI’s but for the most part, everyone on Cordoba batted well.  This game was so bad for Lahore that their sub Hummaad Afif had 30% of their hits (3 out the 10 recorded hits) and now leads lahore in multiple offensive categories. Don’t believe me? go ahead and check out Lahore’s team page. In an attempt to turn things around, Lahore may want to exercise some patience at the plate as they have the lowest number of walks this year.
If anybody is looking for a full time gig, Captain Aftab is accepting resumes and is looking to hire ASAP. After speaking to captain Aftab, he seems to be calm and is looking to make some changes. He may not be panicking yet but, he might want to speed up his timeline because losing a few more games may take them out of the playoff race early. We all know Lahore has the potential but perhaps chemistry needs some work as neither their offense or defense is helping them win games. Theyll have the following thursday off to recover from taking a beating but we're hoping to see Lahore bounce back strong and start making a push for that wild card spot. Unfortanately its an uphill battle from here on out but when you cant go any lower theres only 1 way to go. Lets see if Lahore can figure out which way that is.


Summary of main stats:

 

Cordoba

 

Bilal Javed: 2 / 2, HR, 2 RBI’s

Yusauf Chaudhry: 4 / 3, RBI

Suleman Mann: 2 / 3, 4 RBI’s

Kamil Siddiqui: 3 / 3

 

Lahore

 

Hammad Afif: 3 / 3, 2 RBI’s, HR

Mohammed Al-Sukhni: 2 / 3, RBI

Aftab Sheikh: 2 / 3, 2B

 

 

Cordoba vs Medina

 

The final game of the evening was nothing short of a thriller as this game has “game of the year” written all over it.

 

As the home team, Cordoba took to the field first as Medina got set to put some runs on the board. Medina must have dipped their bats in kerosene to start the game as their bats were on FIRE! They mercied Cordoba in the first inning, capped off by an Abdul 'Hulk' Butt smash down CF bringing in 2 RBI’s. Building on that momentum, they put up 5 runs in the next inning as they went through their entire batting lineup twice in 2 innings. This game was so crazy that Abdo Menla hit an infield homerun. He smoked it to RF where Suleman Mann had to make a tough running grab and misplayed the ball resulting and speedy Gonzales gunning it home for the 2 run homer. Medina was sitting pretty with a 12 – 3 advantage going into the 3rd inning where Cordoba finally came to life and made a run of their own showing no mercy laying a 7 run beat down in this inning. Suleman Mann, Bilal Javed and Faisal Shamshad all had a HR each combining for a total of 7 RBI’s.

Cordoba shut Medina down in the next inning and took a 1 point lead heading to the fourth. The game was neck in neck as both teams exchanged leads until the final inning where Hamid Malik stepped into his 2nd HR of the year bringing in 2 runs. That helped Medina go up by 5 going into the very final inning. With Cordoba up to bat they quickly gave up 2 outs and the final batter was down to 2 strikes as Medina’s hard work was about to pay off… until it didn’t. On what should’ve been the final pitch of the game, Kamil Siddiqui stepped up and hit a solo homer (first of his BSLN career) keeping Cordoba’s hopes alive but also bringing up the top of the order. With Cordoba unable to hit anymore homeruns the batters were limited as a lot of them are able to send it over the fence but that didn’t hold them back as guys kept getting on base. Khuram Channa hit one to LCF over Ismail Akhtars head as the wind carried it over, bringing in 2 runs. With Cordoba only down 2, and the winning run camped out at first, Captain Yousaf Chaudhry stepped up and hit it to LCF with a fielder under it as this game seemed like it was over but at the very last second the catch was dropped bringing in all 3 required runs to end this exciting game.  Hats off to Cordoba for bringing it when it mattered most. They fought back all game long and won the game on the very last play. Medina has now dropped 2 games in a row to Cordoba but this game shows that they aren’t untouchable.  These 2 squads clash again on the last week of the regular season which could be a preview of a potential playoff matchup.

 

Summary of main stats:

 

Medina

Hamid Malik: 4/4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI’s

Ismail Akhtar: 2/3, HR, 5 RBI’s

Mo Kala: 3/4, 2B, 5 RBI’s

Abdo Menla: 2/3, HR, 4 RBI’s

W K: 3/4

 

Cordoba

Khuram Channa: 3/4, HR, 2B, 6 RBI’s

Khawar Anwar: 2/2, 2B, 2 RBI’s

Bilal Javed: 3/4, HR, 3 RBI’s

Yusauf Chauhdry: 2/4, 3 RBI’s

Kamil Siddiqui: 2/3, HR, RBI