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By Peter Della Penna in Newark, New Jersey

Atlantic openers Aditya Mishra and Gowkaran Roopnarine showed their hunger for a spot on the USA national team by feasting on the opposition bowlers Sunday afternoon as they guided their team to a pair of victories to finish as the undefeated tournament champions on Sunday at the 2011 USACA Twenty20 Nationals in Newark, New Jersey. Mishra scored 87 in a five-run win over New York while Roopnarine scored 81 not out in a 42-run win over Central West in the championship match at Weequahic Park.

Game One – North East vs. South East 15-over game

In the first match of the day, North East defeated South East by 16 runs, a final margin that makes the game look much closer than it actually was. North East won the toss and elected to bat first. Three of the top four batsmen – Sharaz Baksh, Manwar Abassi and Timmy Thomas – made solid contributions. Abassi top scored with 34 in 24 balls and produced a 57-run second wicket stand with Baksh that propelled North East to a total of 110 for 8. Bhim George took 4 for 14 bowling left-arm orthodox spin for South East while there were also three runouts in the field.

South East’s chase was reduced by one over for a slow over rate in the field. Despite facing an unheralded North East bowling attack, South East struggled to get any momentum going. Sheldon Smith bowled an economical three over spell of left-arm spin, taking 1 for 7, while Thomas dashed any hopes of a South East charge by taking 3 for 13 with his off-spin. South East needed 33 off the last over to win but the first ball bowled by Fazal Alam went for a single to seal the game. Two sixes off the last two balls by Hussain Haider meant that South East finished on 94 for 9. Thomas was named Man of the Match for scoring 29 in 17 to go along with his tidy bowling effort.

Game Two - Central West vs. Central East 15-over game

In a game to decide who would win the Western Conference, Central West defeated Central East by three wickets in a hard fought contest. Central East won the toss and elected to bat first and for the second match in a row, Central East’s openers got their side off to a fantastic start with a 59-run stand. Fahad Babar played shots all around the ground while Saminda Siriwardena supported him by giving him the strike at every opportunity. Babar fell for 40 in 27 and was replaced by Manpreet Singh, who survived a chance on 20 and went on to rocket 42 off 20 balls. No one crossed double digits outside the top three though and Central East finished on 120 for 9.

Central West came out swinging hard and fast, determined to finish the game as quickly as possible to overtake Central East on net run rate. Akhil Pathan bowled Ryan Corns on the third ball of the innings, but Rahul Kukreti came in and teamed up with Sushil Nadkarni to boost CWR with a 52-run second wicket partnership in 3.4 overs. Nadkarni fell for 24 in 11 and Man of the Match Kukreti a short time later for 35 in 21, both to Airaj Syed’s off-spin.

Amir Nanji carried the chase after the twin setbacks, scoring 23 off 18 balls before falling to Pathan making it 110 for 7 in 11.3 overs. Orlando Baker and Usman Shuja took Central West over the line with 15 balls to spare as Central West finished with a net run rate that took them past Central East by 0.797 runs per over and assured them a place in the final against the winner of the game between New York and Atlantic. South West finished third in the group and North West last on net run rate with all four teams sharing a 1-1 record.

Game Three – New York vs. Atlantic 15-over game

In a thrilling see-saw contest, Atlantic held off New York to win by five runs. Atlantic won the toss and batted first as Aditya Mishra put the New York bowling attack to the sword. A day after his opening partner Gowkaran Roopnarine scored 96 in 58 balls against North East, Mishra tallied 87 in 49 balls, mixing elegance with brute force. Mishra, who brought up his 50 in 33 balls, had eight fours and six sixes in his knock and put on 73 in eight overs for the first wicket with Roopnarine. After both men left the crease, Naseer Islam and Stuart Mills turned in handy cameos to take Atlantic to 161 for 5 at the end of the innings.

Image (above) - Aditya Mishra watches the ball fly away over long on after striking New York leg-spinner Bryan Murphy for his third six in four balls during the 10th over. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

New York seemed undaunted by the run rate needed to win as Akeem Dodson and Glen Hall got New York off to a scorching start. Hall fell on the fifth ball of the second over for 17 in 7 balls, but Quasen Alfred picked up where he left off the day before with a series of monster hits. Alfred and Dodson took New York to 89 for 1 after seven overs and it appeared they would cruise to victory until Sean Stanislaus shifted the momentum of the game with a sensational runout on the first ball of the eighth. Stanislaus charged in from the midwicket boundary and fired a sensational direct hit to nab Alfred, who was attempting to come back for a second run and the second wicket stand ended at 63 in 32 balls. Dodson fell a short time later, caught on the boundary for 49 in 28 balls to make it 108 for 3 in 9.4 overs.

New York was still in front of the required scoring rate with a slew of batsmen up their sleeve, but the tide turned back in favor of Atlantic again when Naseer Islam bowled a crucial 12th over, conceding only four runs as he dismissed Bryan Murphy for 20 and two balls later had vice-captain Barrington Bartley out stumped for a golden duck. New York then scored 10 each in the 13th and 14th overs to enter the final over at 144 for 5 needing 18 to win.

Atlantic captain Neil McGarrell came on to bowl his last over with George Adams on strike and Steve Massiah at the opposite end. The first ball was pitched full on the stumps and Adams slogged it over midwicket for six before cracking a full toss over the cover boundary on the next ball for another maximum, whipping the New York bench into a frenzy. McGarrell kept his cool though and fired the next ball in flatter and fuller to clean bowl Adams as the batsman failed in his attempt to end the match with a third straight heave. Karan Ganesh came in was beaten in flight to be stumped on the only ball he faced for the weekend, giving Atlantic belief once again. Andy Mohammed arrived for the hat trick ball and in an attempt to get a single to put Massiah on strike, Mohammed played around a full delivery to see his stumps knocked back as the Atlantic fielders swarmed their captain in celebration. With one ball to go, New York’s last chance at victory was in the hands of Adrian Gordon but he suffered the same fate as Ganesh, beaten in flight and stumped as McGarrell took four wickets in four balls to end the match. McGarrell’s heroics earned him the Man of the Match award ahead of Mishra, who turned in the second highest score of the weekend.

Atlantic finished the Eastern Conference group undefeated while New York finished ahead of North East on net run rate in second place at 1-1. North East finished third while South East was the only winless team on the weekend and finished in last place.

Championship Match – Atlantic vs. Central West 12-over game

Atlantic surged on after the win over New York and left Central West in the dust to win the tournament final by 42 runs, the widest victory margin by runs in the tournament. Central West won the toss and curiously sent Atlantic in to bat. Six of the eight group matches were won by the team batting first, but Central West had successfully won chasing against Central East earlier in the day.

Only a few hours after he plundered New York’s bowling attack, Mishra was out first ball of the innings to Usman Shuja, late on a pull shot to send a top edge to point. It didn’t matter though as Roopnarine and Adil Bhatti combined for a 92-run partnership during the next 8.4 overs. The two players shared a 97-run stand a day before against North East as well, the two highest partnerships of the tournament. Roopnarine was ruthless in his assault on the CWR bowlers, bringing up his 50 in 24 balls, while Bhatti complemented him with a series of graceful lofted drives. The stand ended when Bhatti was run out for 33 in 26 balls trying to turn a single into two. Roopnarine kept on chugging along though and finished with 81 in 38 balls, including four fours and eight sixes, to give Atlantic a first innings total of 133 for 3.

Central West openers Nadkarni and Corns provided brief hope of winning, taking the score to 38 in the first four overs, but on the last ball of the fourth, Nadkarni’s attempt at a fourth six failed and he was bowled by Bhatti’s medium pace for 24 in 12 balls. That wound up being the top score for CWR as their chase soon fizzled. Junaid Rasheed finished with 3 for 10 in two overs of off-spin and Central West ended on 91 for 7 in their 12 overs.

At the tournament awards presentation, Roopnarine cleaned up the awards for Finals MVP, Best Batsman and Tournament MVP, finishing with 193 runs in three innings at an average of 96.50. Shail Bhatt of Central West finished the weekend as the highest wicket-taker with eight and claimed the Best Bowler trophy. New York’s Dodson was given the Best Young Player (Under-25) award after finishing with 73 runs at the same average while completing four dismissals behind the stumps in addition to one runout.