USA Cricketer : Salman Ahmad, Merwe Erasmus

USA Cricket: Sewdial's 68 powers USA U-19 past Kenya U-19 by 130 runs at 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 01:03:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Derry, Northern Ireland

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

USA U-19 captain Greg Sewdial recorded his highest score in a USA U-19 uniform to lead his side to a 130-run win over Kenya U-19 at Bready CC on Friday afternoon at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Magheramason, Northern Ireland. Sewdial scored 68 in 104 balls with seven boundaries to be named Man of the Match.

“The entire team came out mentally prepared for this match and the results showed,” said Sewdial. “I just thought it was about people digging deep down in their soul and knowing that we’re here for a purpose and it was about time we got our act together and I thought we did that.”

Kenya won the toss and sent USA in to bat in cold conditions on a slightly slow wicket. Steven Taylor got out cheaply to Kenyan all-rounder Duncan Allan for 17, caught driving to cover to make it 29 for 1 in the sixth. Cameron Mirza was dismissed LBW for the third time in this event when left-arm spinner Raj Savala pinned him on the crease with his second delivery to send the USA opener off for 13 at 46 for 1 in the ninth.

Abhijit Joshi was then joined by Sewdial and the two began building up another solid partnership just as they had in the match against Scotland. Rather than get carried away going for sixes and throwing their wickets away, the two learned from the mistakes they made on Wednesday to produce a 106-run partnership. It was the second century stand in the tournament for USA and only the seventh overall by any team in the event. USA has also been on the receiving end of two against PNG and Scotland.

The stand was finally broken when Joshi edged behind to the keeper off the bowling of Emmanuel Ringera for 41. It was Joshi’s highest score in a USA U-19 uniform. Sewdial also eclipsed his previous best, 57 against Bahamas U-19 two years ago in Canada before being run out in cruel circumstances when Amarnauth Persaud failed to respond to a second run on a ball hit between long off and the cover sweeper and the score went to 159 for 4 in the 38th over.

Jodhbir Singh was the next to go, bowled by Savala for 12 to make it 180 for 5 in the 43rd. Persaud was also dismissed for 12, caught on the boundary off Ringera to make it 189 for 6. Salman Ahmad reached 12 as well before being caught on the boundary to give Ringera his third at 216 for 7 and Hammad Shahid was gone without scoring, also caught in the deep off Allan.

Pranay Suri provided a late surge to USA’s innings as wickets were falling around him. Suri hit 28 in 18 balls with two fours and a six, making the most out of USA’s batting power play at the death. He was also caught on the boundary for Ringera’s fourth scalp. Mital Patel and Shayan Abdulghani added on 5 not out and 7 not out respectively as USA finished 238 for 9 in their 50 overs.

Kenya’s chase never got going as wickets tumbled regularly beginning in the sixth over when Shahid came on at first change at teamed up with Sewdial to have Irfan Karim caught at second slip for 2. Fellow opener Rushabh Patel joined Karim in the pavilion when he too edged Shahid to Sewdial in the slips for 10 to make it 25 for 2 in the 10th.

Allan came in at number three and tried to provide some stability to Kenya’s innings, but got virtually no support as USA’s bowlers continued to tear through his partners at the other end. Ahmad took the next three wickets for USA as he bowled out his 10 overs right from the start of the chase to finish with 3 for 14 including three maidens. His first victim was Joseph Ochieng, given LBW for 0. Ringera could only manage 2 before he was caught by Taylor standing up to the stumps. Kenya U-19 captain Kennedy Ochieng then fell without scoring after being stumped off a leg side wide to make it 35 for 5 in the 15th over.

Singh made his presence felt in the field when he had Rahul Vishram caught behind for 8 before Abdulghani nabbed Raj Shikotra for a duck and Harrison Angila for 12, caught at point by Mirza, to make it 99 for 8 in the 30th. Angila’s partnership of 42 with Allan was Kenya’s highest on the day. Suri took his first wicket in the 31st when he had Martin Ndandason stumped off another leg side wide for 0 before he ended the match by bowling Allan for 46 and Kenya was all out for 108 in 34.1 overs.

In the day’s other matches, Ireland’s Graeme McCarter took 5 for 8, including the second hat trick of the tournament to help bowl Canada out for 37 before winning by 5 wickets. Nepal defeated Namibia by 8 runs despite Merwe Erasmus’ fourth half-century of the tournament and 6 for 41 by medium pacer Christopher Coombe. Scotland defeated Afghanistan by 33 runs while Papua New Guinea disposed of Vanuatu by 118 runs.

Scotland and Ireland are tied at the top of the list with 5-1 records. Nepal is the lone 4-2 team and is in third place. USA, Canda, Namibia and PNG all have 3-3 records with USA in fifth place on net run rate. Afghanistan and Kenya are 2-4 and Vanuatu is 0-6.

USA’s tournament continues on Saturday from Drummond Cricket Club where they will take on Vanuatu. Due to internet connectivity issues, full ball-by-ball coverage may not be possible but DreamCricket.com will do it’s best to provide as many live updates as possible throughout the match. First ball is set to be bowled at 10:45 a.m.

USA Cricket: Second Taylor ton takes USA U-19 to 46-run win over Namibia U-19 at 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 23:38:00 GMT

Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook. Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket

By Peter Della Penna in Dublin, Ireland

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

Steven Taylor cracked his second century in as many games to lead USA to a 46-run win over Namibia U-19 at North County CC on Sunday at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Dublin, Ireland. Taylor was named Man of the Match for his 102 in 74 balls which included 14 fours and four sixes.

USA U-19 won the toss and elected to bat first on a day which featured persistent drizzly rain and overcast conditions. Taylor was not deterred however and put on a 122-run opening stand with Cameron Mirza in which the wicketkeeper-batsman scored 87 of the runs. He brought up his 50 in 33 balls with eight fours and two sixes, the first of which was lost in the brush beyond the midwicket boundary in the fifth over of the match. The stand ended when Mirza played back to a full delivery from medium pacer Christopher Coombe and was given LBW for 14.

Taylor motored along, bruising the boundary boards with his heavy hitting at the small ground. He brought up his century in 68 balls with a single on the last ball of the 18th over. He was caught a short time later in the 20th over driving the off-spin of Justin Baard straight to his brother, Namibia U-19 captain Stephen Baard, at cover to make it 151 for 2.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor acknowledges his teammates cheering from the North County CC pavilion balcony after reaching his second century of the tournament. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Wickets started falling quickly afterward as it appeared USA was heading for another middle order free fall. USA U-19 captain Greg Sewdial was caught at mid on for 24 off Stephen Baard’s medium pace in the 25th over to make it 173 for 3. Abhijit Joshi played over the top of a full delivery from Justin Baard to be LBW for 6 and Jodhbir Singh lofted Justin Baard straight to long on for 2 as USA fell to 188 for 5 after 28 overs.

Number five batsman Amarnauth Persaud was then joined by all-rounder Pranay Suri and the two stabilized USA’s innings with a 68-run stand for the sixth wicket. The two did a much better job of placing the ball into gaps for singles than USA had done as a whole during their first two matches. Persaud finally got out for 40 when he flicked a full toss on his legs straight to Stephen Baard in the circle at midwicket off the bowling of medium pacer Zhivago Groenewald.

Suri carried on for the last eight overs with Salman Ahmad and in the batting power play from the 44th to the 48th over the pair added 32 runs. Another 22 were added in the last 12 balls as USA finished on 312 for 6 in 50 overs. Suri brought up his half-century with a four in the final over and finished 55 not out in 70 balls with five fours and a six. Ahmad remained unbeaten on 21 off 20 balls. Justin Baard bowled a clever eight-over spell varying his flight and pace to finish with 3 for 28 in eight overs.

After a maiden by Ahmad started Namibia’s chase, the opening pair of Wian van Vuuren and Justin Baard showed positive intent by blitzing Ahmad and Mital Patel for 31 off the next three overs. Baard fell in the fifth when he was caught off the bowling of Ahmad at mid off by Hammad Shahid for 13. Pelham Myburgh joined van Vuuren and the two continued to pressure the USA bowling attack. Leg-spinner Gurpreet Sandhu was brought on in the 12th and conceded 17 runs but was able to dislodge van Vuuren for a run-a-ball 43 on the final delivery of the over as an LBW appeal was upheld after hitting the batsman halfway up the pads defending on the front foot to make it 82 for 2.

Three overs later, the rain at the ground intensified enough for the players to be forced off the field with the score at 92 for 2 in 15. An hour delay ensued and when play finally resumed, USA took control of the match with three quick wickets. Myburgh was bowled by a Shahid yorker for 18 in the 17th over before Justin Davidson chipped Suri’s off-spin to Persaud at midwicket for 2. Shahid followed that up by knocking back Stephen Baard’s off stump with a gem for 19 to make it 107 for 5 in the 21st.

Namibia refused to give up though as Gert Lotter and Merwe Erasmus built a 90-run sixth wicket partnership to keep their team’s hopes alive. It was only when Suri returned for his final two overs that Erasmus was pried from the crease when he drove a full delivery straight to Sewdial at cover for 55.

Lotter continued to fight on with Groenewald as they produced a 54-run stand but Lotter finally perished in the batting power play, trying to slog Ahmad down the ground but was caught by Shahid at long on for 67 to make it 251 for 7. Ahmad took his third wicket two balls later when Groenewald was caught by sub fielder Prashanth Nair at point for 25 and it was only a matter of time before Namibia was bowled out.

Patel dismissed Coombe for the ninth wicket and Ahmad finished off the match when Andre Engelbrecht top edged a pull to Taylor behind the stumps and Namibia was bowled out for 266 in 46.4 overs. Ahmad had the best return for USA with 4 for 60 while Suri bowled a crucial spell in miserable conditions to finish with 2 for 37 in 10.

In the day’s other matches, Canada defeated Vanuatu by nine wickets, Nepal cruised past Kenya by six wickets, Scotland beat Ireland by two wickets on Duckworth Lewis Method in another rain-affected match and Afghanistan defeated Papua New Guinea by six wickets. After three days, Namibia, Canada, Nepal, Scotland, Kenya and Ireland are all 2-1. USA is tied for seventh with Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea at 1-2 but ahead of both on net run rate. Vanuatu is the only winless team having lost all three of their games.

USA U-19 returns to action in what is sure to be an emotionally charged contest against Afghanistan U-19 on Monday morning at The Hills CC north of Dublin. DreamCricket.com’s live coverage, made possible in part by New Inning Foundation, will begin at 10 a.m. in Dublin, 5 a.m. EST in the USA with first ball scheduled to be bowled at 10:45 a.m.