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By Peter Della Penna in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation

USA U-15 captain Dave Parikh’s brilliant all-round performance was more than enough for his side to defeat Canada U-15 by 138 runs on Monday afternoon in the 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Parikh was the easy choice for Man of the Match after top scoring in USA’s innings with 67 not out before wrecking Canada’s lineup in the field with figures of 4 for 6 in eight overs including four maidens. USA moves to 2-0 with the win while Canada joins Bermuda at 0-1.

Canada won the toss and sent USA in to bat first on another bright and sunny day in Winnipeg as Karanjit Singh and Jason Gobin opened once again for USA. Canada was able to get rid of Gobin early to make it 22 for 1 in the fifth over when medium pacer Amrinder Atwal bowled him for 11 after Gobin played across the line and missed a full delivery. USA’s batting hero from day one, Neil Tagare, came in next but scored just 12 before he top edged an attempted flick through the on side off Atwal and was caught at midwicket to make it 43 for 2 in the 11th. Singh went next for 15 when he tried driving leg-spinner Manula Atihetly through the covers but instead sliced a simple catch to point to make it 68 for 3.

Parikh then came to the crease where he joined Vibhav Altekar to forge a chanceless 74-run partnership in the span of 12 overs. Both batsmen calmly negotiated the spin tandem of Atihetly and Gayan Ferdinands, waiting patiently for the loose deliveries to dispatch to the boundary. Altekar raised his half-century in 57 balls with 10 boundaries, but was out one delivery later when he cut left-arm spinner Kurt Ramdath to point to make it 142 for 4 in the 31st.

Parikh carried on with Rohit Mogalayapalli to build another half-century partnership as USA cruised toward 200. USA took their batting power play to start the 37th over and managed to add 34 runs in the final four overs as Parikh brought up his 50 in 60 balls with nine fours. Canada’s fielding had been sharp for most of the innings, but Parikh was dropped off back-to-back deliveries on 63 and 65 at mid off and mid on in the last two overs. Mogalayapalli was finally caught driving medium pacer Abrash Khan to cover for 18 with two balls to go in the innings to make it 198 for 5. Parikh and Gordon Makin added three off the final two deliveries as USA finished 201 for 5 in 40 overs. Atwal had Canada’s best figures with 2 for 33 in eight overs.

Image (above) - USA U-15 captain Dave Parikh acknowledges his teammates after reaching his half-century against Canada. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Parikh and Rutvij Bhise opened the bowling for USA and had the host side under immediate pressure. Ramdath and Harsh Thakar could only muster 13 runs for the first wicket before Ramdath fell for 9 when he spooned a catch to Mogalayapalli at cover off Parikh’s left-arm seam bowling. The opening stand wound up being Canada’s best partnership of the innings.

Bhise and Parikh then ripped apart Canada’s lineup as four more wickets fell with the score on 23. Thakar chased a wide delivery from Bhise and edged to Makin behind the stumps for 9. Seven balls later, Ferdinands was out for 5 driving Parikh to Srinivas at mid off, who slid forward to complete a superb catch. Canada U-15 captain Prushoth Senathirajah fell without scoring off the next ball when he tried to smash Parikh over Srinivas, but the fielder backpedaled from mid off to take another athletic catch to end the ninth over with Parikh set to bowl a hat-trick ball at the beginning of the 11th.

Before that could take place though, Bhise made it three wickets in three balls on the first delivery of the 10th when Adihetly fended off a bouncer to Brandon Dat at square leg for a golden duck. Parikh took his fourth in the 13th over when Sarbjot Singh became the third batsman to leave without scoring, driving loosely to feather a thick edge to Makin making the score 33 for 6.

Miraj Patel was run out for a duck when Bhise fired a direct hit to the keeper’s end after chasing a ball down from his position at first slip to make it 40 for 7. Atwal was also run out for 6 when Khan cut a delivery from Altekar to point and set off for a run that was never there. Parikh fielded and fired to Makin over the stumps with Atwal well short to make it 50 for 8. Khan was ninth man out for Canada’s top score of 17 when he sliced the medium pace of Anirudha Srinivas to Bhise at point to make it 55 for 9. Srinivas also claimed the last wicket when number 11 Rohan Devrai became the fifth Canadian batsman to fall for a duck, top edging an attempted pull to Singh at midwicket as Canada was bowled out for 63 in 23 overs. Extras were second top score with 11. USA’s impressive bowling performance was evident in the fact that they did not bowl a wide until the 12th over at which point Canada was already five down.

USA has Tuesday off as Canada takes on Bermuda with both teams looking to register their first win on the week. Game time is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. local time from Assiniboine Park.