The finals of the USA Under 15 Championship that was played on
Sunday, June 28th at the Sheppard Ground in San Jose, California. The
contest, as expected, was between two of the strongest teams in the
country - North West Region and New York.
New York stormed into the final after defeating Atlantic Region on
Saturday by a whopping 151 run margin. Asked to bat first, New York
put on an above-par performance as the entire batting order
contributing to the 226 run total. Five batsmen scored 25 or more
including a 44 ball 35 by Amarnauth Persaud 32 at a strike rate of 100
by Zafaar Ysuf. Rushi Patel of the Atlantic Region, once again, took
the bowling accolades with a 3 for 43 from 8 overs. Shreyan Patel took
2 for 4 from his 2 overs whereas Gauranshu Sharma (1 for 28 from 6) and
Thilina Silva (2 for 29 from 4) and Ryan Persaud (1 for 32 from 8)
shared the spoils. Atlantic Region made heavy weather of their chase
with no batsman getting even double digits - eventually they were all
back in the pavilion with the score reading 75 all out. Amarnauth
Persaud bowled a great spell getting 3 for 13 from 8 overs for New York.
North West had a similarly one-sided contest on its way to the
final. Playing South West, the North West side batted first and scored
226 for 8 in their allotted 40 overs. Arsh Buch played a tremendous
knock scoring 73 runs including 3 hits to the fence. He was supported
by Vikram Valluri (26), Roshan Varadarajan (27) and Imran Nana (21).
North West bowlers just destroyed their opponents who were taken out
for 53 from 33.2 overs. Imran Nana was unplayable with a 3 for 6 from
his 3 over spell. Roshan Varadarajan (2 for 10) and Pranay Pradhan (2
for 16) shared the spoils.
In the final on Sunday, New York won the toss and decided to bat.
After Waqas Shah fell with the score reading 13, Amarnauth Persaud (17)
and Trevis Ross (22) were looking like they were settling in, but they
both fell to Krish Goel. Kwiese Edmondson (25) and Orvindo Singh (15)
restored some stability by adding 41 runs for the 4th wicket, but
Roshan Varadarajan bowled Orvindo out and the rest of the side just
scrambled to give Kwiese company. In the end, New York were all out
for just 109. Bowling for North West, Captain Roshan Varadarajan was
in devastating form taking 4 for 18 from his 8 overs - a performance
which won him the Man of the Match award. Krish Goel excelled with 3
for 15 from his 8 overs.
Getting 110 was not going to be a challenge for the well-oiled
batting machinery of North West. But if New York were celebrating when
Arsh Buch departed early with score still reading 9, that celebration
was short-lived. Arsh's opening partner Vikram Valluri saved his best
for last, scoring 64 not out in the final. He was supported ably by
Zachary Zadoo (21 not out) as they reached the winning score in the
27th over.
North West were crowned the champions for the second consecutive
time. Speaking to DreamCricket.com, North West Regional Chairman
Hemant Buch said: "It is very very satisfying to see the team that I
have seen grow up in front of my eyes win the tournament for the second
consecutive time. Not only that, these boys also cornered most of the
individual awards."
Thanking the North West coaching staff - Imran Khan and Raj
Badadare, Buch said "The hard work by the regional coaches and the
intensive conditioning camp by CCA Coach Amit Buch has really paid
off. We are also fortunate to have Rakesh Suri as manager of the
team."
"Thanks to NCCA Executive led by Ganesh Sanap and the board led by
Zain Khan for their support with the grounds and logistics. BACA was
also gracious with extending help to the juniors and thanks to BACA led
by Jaswinder Singh."
Fittingly, Hemant's son Arsh Buch was the MVP with 140 runs in 3
games and 4 wickets at a strike of just 3 runs. His opening partner
Vikram Valluri took home the Best Batsman for his 125 runs. Krish Goel
with 9 wickets and an economy rate of 2 per wicket was the Best
Bowler. Imran Nana was outstanding for his side and took the Best
Fielder award.
Arsh Buch receives his U-15 MVP Trophy
Scores:
http://www.calcricket.org/nationals/scores.html