USA Cricket: Another middle order collapse dooms USA U-19 in 8-wicket loss to Scotland U-19 at 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:42:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Derry, Northern Ireland

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Ball-by-Ball Commentary

Scotland U-19 off-spinner Kyle Smith capitalized on USA U-19’s reckless batting to help bowl them out for 124 before his side coasted to an eight-wicket win at Eglinton Cricket Club on Wednesday afternoon at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Eglinton, Northern Ireland. Smith was named Man of the Match after finishing with figures of 4 for 21 in 8.3 overs with two maidens. USA dropped to 2-3 with the loss while Scotland improved their record to 4-1 at the tournament.

“The pace off the ball in the middle part of the innings is a key part of our game plan in terms of just trying to bowl dot balls and trying to build some pressure on the opposition,” said Scotland U-19 head coach Craig Wright. “The US batsmen didn’t really have an answer in terms of the straight lines that our bowlers bowled and didn’t really seem to have any idea about how to go and score against that, which worked to our advantage obviously because they tried to play big shots and then we took their wicket.”

USA won the toss and elected to bat first on a clear and cool morning in Northern Ireland with temperatures in the range of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Steven Taylor once again got off to a fast start, reaching 24 in 22 balls with four boundaries and a six, but could not convert it into a big score as he was clean bowled by left arm seamer Aman Bailwal in the sixth over to make it 28 for 1. Amarnauth Persaud came in at three and fended a good length ball from right arm medium pacer Patrick Sadler to Smith at second slip for 2 to make it 31 for 2. Cameron Mirza once again struggled before fending a short of a length ball from Sadler through to the keeper Mathew Cross for 8 to make it 37 for 3 in the ninth.

Greg Sewdial was joined by Abhijit Joshi and the two constructed a sensible partnership, patiently defending the good balls and hitting the odd boundary to push the score along. They added 65 for the fourth wicket and after 23 overs, the score was 101 for 3. After Joshi took a single off the second ball of the 24th bowled by Smith, USA’s rapid collapse was set in motion when Sewdial lofted a full delivery straight to long on where Bailwal jogged in from the boundary to take a catch, sending the captain back to the pavilion for USA’s top score of 31. Joshi crossed while the ball was in the air and wound up on strike for the next delivery. He then repeated Sewdial’s mistake by lofting another full ball straight to Bailwal who this time took a sliding catch coming in from long on and Joshi had to go for 23 to make it 102 for 5.

Two overs later, Smith took his third in five balls when Jodhbir Singh played inside the line of a good length ball and was clean bowled for a duck to make it 104 for 6. Fellow off-spin bowler Ross McLean got into the act in the 29th over when Salman Ahmad went to cut a short ball on the stumps and was cramped for room, giving a thin edge to the keeper for 2 to make it 107 for 7.

McLean struck twice more in the 31st to make it 111 for 9 as USA continued to exhibit completely irresponsible shot selection. On the third ball of the over, Hammad Shahid tried to clear mid off but spooned a simple catch to Peter Legget for 1. Three balls later, Mital Patel played a carbon copy shot and was caught by Sam Page at mid off for a duck. Smith rapped up the innings by bowling Shayan Abdulghani for 8 and USA was all out for 124 in 35.3 overs.

"Unfortunately after my wicket, the team sort of had the domino effect and wickets just started falling one after the other," said Sewdial. "A few poor shots were very costly to us. I would say most of all it was a lack of concentration, not just by myself but the team in general. Wickets just started to fall one after the other, but hats off to the Scottish team. I thought they did well to keep the pressure on us and unfortunately we were on the losing end today."

USA’s inability to turn over the strike and place the ball into gaps in the field cost them dearly once again. There were only 55 scoring shots off the bat in USA’s innings compared to 158 dot balls. That does not include the 87 deliveries that went unused as a result of being bowled out. In all, USA failed to score off the bat for 245 of the 300 legal deliveries that were available to them at the start of the match.

Patel provided brief hope in the field for USA when he claimed both of Scotland’s openers, Cross caught behind by Taylor for 3 and McLean LBW for 3 after missing a yorker to make it 13 for 2 in the sixth over. However, Freddie Coleman quickly thwarted any momentum USA hoped to build in the field when he unloaded on Patel for five boundaries and a six in a 27-run eighth over and Scotland never looked back.

Lunch was taken with the score at 78 for 2 in 17 overs and after play resumed, Coleman and Peter Ross knocked off the final 47 runs in clinical fashion. Coleman finished 60 not out with Ross unbeaten on 40. Despite having the leading scorer – Taylor with 343 – and the leading wicket taker – Patel with 15 – in the tournament, USA is currently in eighth place after five matches.

In Wednesday’s other matches, Ireland defeated Vanuatu by 165 runs as Andy McBrine scored 107 not out for the host team in their total of 313 for 9, the highest innings score in the tournament for any side. Canada held on to beat Nepal by three wickets in their chase of 107 as number four batsman Kyle Edghill scored 52 not out for Canada. Afghanistan recovered from a position of 104 for 6 in the 29th over, identical to USA’s position vs. Scotland at the fall of the sixth wicket, and managed to fight to the end before winning by one wicket with a ball to spare chasing 209 against Namibia as Nasir Ahmadzai scored 64 not out coming in at number seven for the Afghanis. Papua New Guinea also recovered from a dire position of 106 for 8 in 31 overs to make 204 for 9 in 50 overs as number nine batsman Toua Tom scored 82 not out in a 66-run win over Kenya.

Scotland and Ireland are currently at the top of the table with 4-1 records. Nepal, Namibia and Canada are next at 3-2. Afghanistan, Kenya, USA and PNG are stuck together at 2-3. Meanwhile Vanuatu remains in last place with an 0-5 record.

Thursday is an off day for all teams before embarking on a grueling schedule of three matches in three days over the weekend. USA plays Kenya at Bready Cricket Club, quite possibly the best club facility at this tournament, in their next match on Friday. DreamCricket.com’s live coverage, made possible in part by New Inning Foundation, resumes Friday at 10 a.m. in Northern Ireland, 5 a.m. EST in America with first ball scheduled for 10:45 a.m.

USA Cricketer : Kyle Smith

USA Cricket: Another middle order collapse dooms USA U-19 in 8-wicket loss to Scotland U-19 at 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier