USA Cricketer : Timil Patel

USA Cricket: Team and player reviews for The 2012 Auty Cup

openingbat — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 18:03:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

Batting: USA’s batsmen got off to plenty of decent starts, but hardly any of those starts were converted into a meaningful score. USA had one half-century by Timil Patel in the final Twenty20 match. In comparison, Canada’s batsmen contributed five half-centuries over the four games: two by Raza-ur-Rehman, and one each by Usman Limbada, Hiral Patel and Rizwan Cheema.

In the two-day match, three players made it to 20 – Timothy Surujbally, Karan Ganesh and Ryan Corns – but none of them made it to 30. The pattern was repeated in the 50-over game by Surujbally, Patel, Neil McGarrell and Barrington Bartley, then again in the first Twenty20 by Surujbally and Nicholas Standford. Canada’s players were more determined to make their starts count while USA’s players wasted theirs far too often.

In the 50-over match, USA racked up a stunning number of dot balls, 216 to be exact, almost 70% of the total deliveries in the innings. In the 35 non-power play overs, USA scored just 41 singles which highlights their struggle to find gaps in the circle and turn over the strike to keep pressure from building up. More evidence came in the first Twenty20 match where USA had 61 dot balls, a shocking number for a Twenty20 match especially since USA only batted 19 overs.

USA’s biggest challenge was against Canada’s spin bowlers, particularly leg-spinner Junaid Siddiqui and the left-arm spin of Rehman. Canada’s bowling attack was good but not nearly as good as some of the ones they’ve used in World Cups over the last decade.

Bowling: Against most of Canada’s first choice batsmen, USA’s bowlers turned in an admirable showing, especially in the two-day match. To bowl out a Division One Associate team for under 200 runs in a multi-day match was impressive and they nearly did it twice but ran out of time. Naseer Jamali’s opening spell which claimed three wickets set the tone for USA’s bowlers throughout that match.

The USA bowling was a bit flat in the 50-over match although if they had another 30 to 40 runs to play with they might have had more of a spring in their step. With the exception of Cheema’s first over assault of Adrian Gordon in the first Twenty20, USA’s bowlers were collectively committed in not letting Canada’s batsmen score too freely in those games as well.

USA’s greatest success came through their spin bowlers. Danial Ahmed and Timil Patel led the way while Karan Ganesh provided good support with the ball in the limited overs matches. Barrington Bartley showed a brief glimpse of what he can do in a supporting role with the ball as did Japen Patel with his medium pace, but neither should be seen as a frontline option.

Player Reviews

William Perkins – Scored 15 off 25 balls in the two-day match, 46 off 73 in the 50-over game, and made 32 off 21 in the second T20. He looked solid at the crease, but not dominant. For someone with plenty of recent experience playing domestic cricket in the West Indies, as well as participating in the Champions League T20 with Trinidad & Tobago, more was expected. He certainly didn’t do enough to displace Sushil Nadkarni and Steven Taylor as USA’s incumbent openers, but might be worth consideration in a 14-man squad, if eligible, for some of USA’s upcoming tournaments.

Steven Taylor – Scored 4 off 15 balls in the two-day match, retired hurt on 10 in the 50-over match after pulling a hamstring trying to complete a quick single. Taylor has always carried slightly more weight than he should. The hamstring pull may give him the nudge he needs to focus more of his attention on improving his fitness. He has gotten away with it at most stages because of his supreme natural talent, but the higher the level of competition, the greater risk he runs of his fitness being exposed.

Timothy Surujbally – Scored 24 off 55 balls in the two-day game, 28 off 54 in the 50-over match, made 27 off 10 before retiring hurt in the first T20 with a hamstring pull trying to complete a quick single; with the ball took 0 for 6 in three overs during the two-day game. His performance was a microcosm of so many batsmen during the week who teased, but probably fell short of satisfying the expectations of themselves as well as the selectors with their batting. If there’s one thing that would hold him back more than anything else from making it into a 14-man squad next year, it would be his inability to score off the ball turning away from him. Canada’s Siddiqui and Rehman put the clamps on him and Surujbally didn’t seem to have a plan for how to get off strike.

Image (right) - Timothy Surujbally

Andy Mohammed – Scored 0 off 7 balls in the two-day match, made 11 off 12 opening the batting in the first T20; with the ball took 0 for 6 in one over in the two-day game. Two loose dismissals demonstrated that he still has a lot of maturing to do. Despite his talent, he doesn’t ever look determined to stay at the crease for very long. He needs to go back to the drawing board to develop his game.

Karan Ganesh – Top scored for USA in the two-day match with 29 off 70 balls, made 1 off 4 in the 50-over match and 2 not out off 3 balls in the second T20; with the ball took 0 for 14 in eight overs during the two-day match, 2 for 24 in eight overs in the 50-over match, 1 for 20 in four overs in the second T20. Ganesh should have stayed at the crease longer in the two-day game but only has himself to blame for runout that curtailed his innings. With the ball, his flat off-spin was efficient at restricting runs, particularly in the limited overs matches. He wouldn’t get into a full-strength USA squad solely on his batting or bowling alone, but makes an intriguing case as a reserve player for his combined skillset.

Timil Patel – Scored 11 off 15 balls in the two-day match, 22 off 39 in the 50-over game, 0 off 2 in the first T20 and 67 not out off 55 balls in the second T20; with the ball took match figures of 7 for 107 in 34 overs during the two-day game, 2 for 49 in 8.5 overs in the 50-over game, 1 for 24 in three overs in the first T20, 1 for 28 in four overs in the second T20. Had the best all-round performance of any USA player during the week. It’s unclear if he’ll be eligible to play in ICC tournaments next year though because he’s only been in the USA since 2010.

Japen Patel – Scored 0 off 9 balls in the two-day game, 9 off 17 in the first T20; with the ball took 0 for 34 in seven overs during the two-day game, took 4 for 26 in four overs during the first T20. Inserted into a new ball role in the two-day game that he was ill-suited for, he bowled tidily enough and had a chance dropped off his bowling early, but overall lacked penetration. In the T20 he played, he kept a disciplined line and as a result took more wickets than some of his teammates who bowled quicker but with far less control. Such performances with the ball need to be the rule, not the exception, for him to have any chance of cracking USA’s XI. He still has a long way to go with the bat as well to be up to international standard.

Image (left) - Japen Patel

Adil Bhatti – Scored 7 off 35 balls in the two-day game, 7 off 13 in the first T20, 0 off 1 ball in the second T20; with the ball he took 1 for 20 in five overs during the two-day game, 0 for 24 in three overs in the first T20. Bhatti is a player with similar skill sets to Japen Patel and is probably a better player but was outperformed by Japen during the series by way of Patel’s 4 for 26 in the first T20. Bhatti’s best moment came when he pulled off a fantastic catch as a substitute fielder in the 50-over match, but that’s not going to get him selected. He’s a player who gives tremendous effort but needs to work hard on his batting in particular, much like Japen, to merit full-time selection.

Ryan Corns – Scored 20 off 39 balls in the two-day game, 5 off 7 in the first T20, 5 off 5 in the second T20; with the ball took 1 for 46 in 14 overs during the two-day game, 1 for 22 in four overs during the first T20, 1 for 21 in three overs during the second T20. His spin bowling is always improving, but his batting still hasn’t progressed to the point where it should be. He got a few opportunities to bat higher up the order in this series than he had in previous tournaments USA played in 2012, but didn’t make the most of those chances. The fact that he was selected as a stand-in captain in place of the injured Taylor for the second T20 says a lot about how highly he is now thought of by USA’s management hierarchy, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have a nervous wait this winter to see if his spot is secure the next time USA picks a 14-man squad.

Danial Ahmed – Scored 1 not out off 6 balls in the two-day match; with the ball took 6 for 73 across 37.4 overs in the two-day game, took 1 for 13 in three overs in the second T20. Ahmed was the biggest revelation for USA in the matches against Canada. Although he isn’t a very big turner of the ball, he displayed immaculate control and used clever variations of pace and flight to keep batsmen off balance. USA has tried out numerous specialist left-arm spinners over the past few years – Asif Khan, Samarth Shah, Bhim George – to match up with Nepal’s arsenal of them. Ahmed may be the end of that search. He also was brilliant in the field, another area where USA could definitely benefit from his presence.

Naseer Jamali – Scored 2 off 5 balls in the two-day game; with the ball took 3 for 42 in 12 overs during the two-day game, took 0 for 9 in one over in the second T20. His opening spell in the two-day game was very impressive as he wiped out Canada’s top three with relative ease. He doesn’t have blinding pace, but is showing signs of maturing by bowling a more disciplined line and recognizing that he won’t be able to bounce people out. Not a first-choice option now, but wouldn’t be a bad option should Usman Shuja, Elmore Hutchinson or Timroy Allen get injured.

Nicholas Standford – Scored 0 off 8 balls in the 50-over match, 23 off 26 in the first T20, 18 off 22 in the second T20. He played similar to Surujbally in the way he got some good starts, but ultimately failed to convert them. Looked fluent at the crease in both T20s but at the end of the day a number three batsman needs to do more after getting set like he did regardless of the format.

Neil McGarrell – Scored 26 off 46 balls in the 50-over match, scored 3 off 5 balls in the first T20; with the ball he took 0 for 28 in 10 overs in the 50-over match, took 1 for 14 in three overs in the first T20. Even though he’s 40, McGarrell maintains a very professional approach to the game at all levels. He demonstrated he still has value with the ball and as a fielder, but if there was room for just one specialist left-arm spinner in a USA squad and the choice was between the former West Indies Test bowler and 27-year-old Daniel Ahmed, then Ahmed should get selected. It’s not because Ahmed is younger, it’s because Ahmed showed he’s better.

Barrington Bartley – Scored 23 off 24 balls in the 50-over match, scored 26 off 14 balls in the second T20; with the ball took 0 for 44 in eight overs in the 50-over match, took 3 for 14 in three overs in the second T20. While Bartley had the same issue of carrying on after getting set like many of his teammates, he was actually one of the few efficient batsmen in the squad. It was rare to see him waste a delivery and he was much more skilled at turning over the strike than Ganesh, Surujbally or Standford in particular. He’s also a better fielder than the other three. With the ball, his 0 for 44 in the 50-over game is a more accurate reflection of his bowling abilities than his 3 for 14 in the second T20. If he were to get picked, it would be for his batting.

Saami Siddiqui – Scored 6 off 20 balls in the 50-over game, scored 7 off 8 balls in the first T20; completed no dismissals as a wicketkeeper, conceded 1 bye. Siddiqui kept adequately enough behind the stumps, but as is the case in the modern era of cricket he needs to offer more with the bat as a keeper.

Hammad Shahid – Scored 1 off 10 balls in the 50-over match; with the ball took 1 for 32 in eight overs during the 50-over match, took 0 for 10 in one over in the second T20. The 50-over game was a decent start to his career at the senior level but he didn’t get much of a chance to build on it in the T20 game he played. He hasn’t progressed as quickly as it looked like he would when he was a 16-year-old, but he has a strong frame and will hopefully get better with experience.

Mital Patel – Scored 2 off 9 balls in the 50-over match, made 0 off 4 balls in the first T20; with the ball took 0 for 19 in four overs in the 50-over match, took 0 for 11 in two overs during the first T20. Patel needs to be more disciplined and focused on the basics of finding a consistent line and length. His figures in the 50-over match included a maiden and on paper they look good, but part of the reason he didn’t get to bowl a second spell was because he was somewhat erratic, offering too much width too often. If he can bowl on the stumps on a regular basis, he’ll become a better prospect.

Adrian Gordon – Scored 14 not out off 10 balls in first T20; with the ball took 0 for 26 in one over in first T20, took 1 for 1 in 0.4 overs in second T20. Gordon has practically fallen off the cliff from where he was in his development after ICC WCL Division Four in August of 2010. He’s nowhere close to the bowler he was then. Despite generating good pace, his radar is all over the place. He’s still only 25 so he has time to sort himself out, but it would be good for it to happen sooner rather than later.

Image (right) - Adrian Gordon at ICC WCL Division Four in Italy in 2010. [Courtesy: ICC]

Outlook for 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 and ICC WCL Division Three

Much depends on the eligibility of certain players. Ahmed arrived in the USA in the spring of 2009 so his eligibility for these tournaments depends on how the ICC calculates the residency requirement for qualification, which stipulates that a player must reside in a country for a minimum of 183 days in the four years immediately preceding a tournament in order to play for that country. Only two such players can be picked in any starting XI, which may leave a captain limited if there are multiple such players in a 14-man squad. There is no limit on players who have been residents for a minimum of 183 days for seven years immediately preceding a tournament, or if they are a passport holder/citizen.

Timil Patel arrived in the USA in the summer of 2010, so may not be eligible to play for USA in ICC tournaments until 2014. Perkins last played for the West Indies in 2008, so his eligibility to play for the USA would depend on whether or not he fulfills the residency/citizenship requirements. All three players are definitely capable of slotting into a 14-man squad, but at the moment Timil Patel might be on the outside looking in due to ICC rules.

Probable USA first choice XI for ICC Americas Division One T20 in March:

1. Steven Taylor
2. Sushil Nadkarni
3. Steve Massiah
4. Aditya Thyagarajan
5. Aditya Mishra
6. Orlando Baker
7. Timroy Allen
8. Elmore Hutchinson
9. Usman Shuja
10. Danial Ahmed
11. Muhammad Ghous

As for the three reserves, much of it may depend on squad balance. Would USA opt for a pair of spinners and a batsman? A seamer and two batsmen but no pure spinner? To include or not to include a backup wicketkeeper? Several combinations could be construed. Ryan Corns and Abhimanyu Rajp stand a good chance of keeping their spots in USA’s squad for the time being, but both may be under pressure to hold on to them. If Perkins is eligible he would almost certainly take up the last spot, particularly because he can also keep wicket. Several other players are in contention to be included in a 14-man squad as well including Bartley, Bhatti, Ganesh, Surujbally, Rashard Marshall and Akeem Dodson.

[Views expressed in this article are those of the author. If you have differing views or opinions, we respect those views and urge you to provide your feedback - both positive and negative - in the comments section.]

USA Cricket: Canada beats USA by 36 runs in first T20; USA gets revenge in second T20 with 46-run win

openingbat — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 06:14:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

Match One Scorecard I Match Two Scorecard

Openers Hiral Patel and Rizwan Cheema each produced a half-century to push Canada to a 36-run win over USA in the early game before Timil Patel’s 67 not out at the top of the order propelled USA to a 46-run win over Canada in the second of two Twenty20 matches played on Saturday at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. Canada’s 148 for 9 in the morning match was more than enough to defend against a struggling USA batting unit, but USA finally clicked in game two to post an easily defendable 162 for 5.

The day’s play was delayed by 90 minutes due to a wet outfield from overnight rain. When the field was finally deemed fit for action, USA won the toss in game one and sent Canada in to bat. USA made five changes from the team that lost to Canada by four wickets in the 50-over match on Friday. Andy Mohammed, Ryan Corns, Adil Bhatti, Japen Patel and Adrian Gordon came in for Barrington Bartley, Karan Ganesh, the injured William Perkins, Hammad Shahid and the injured Steven Taylor. Canada made just one change bringing in Manny Aulakh for Henry Osinde.

Gordon opened the bowling for USA and wound up being rocked by Cheema. After a single by Hiral Patel on the first ball of the match, Cheema slammed three fours and connected with two big sixes straight back over Gordon’s head as part of a 26-run opening over for Canada. Cheema scored 24 runs in his first five deliveries faced and took another 21 balls to score his next 26 runs to bring up a half-century. Cheema got slightly carried away after reaching his 50 and tried to reverse sweep Timil Patel a few overs later but wound up bowled in between his legs for 54 to make it 86 for 1 in the 11th.

While Cheema and Hiral Patel capitalized on any width offered by USA’s bowlers, Japen Patel bowled a tight stump to stump line and was rewarded with his best bowling return in a USA uniform, 4 for 26 off four overs. He started off by claiming number three batsman Ruvindu Gunasekera for 3 thanks to a good catch by Mohammed running back from midwicket in the circle to make it 103 for 2 in the 14th. Raza-ur-Rehman fell for 7 to give Japen Patel his second after the batsman failed to clear Neil McGarrell with a lofted drive to long off. Damodar Daesrath entered and missed a flick to midwicket off his first delivery and was promptly judged LBW to put Patel on a hat trick to end the 17th.

USA took three wickets in three balls as a team when Corns opened the 18th by taking the wicket of Hiral Patel for 54 after he had been dropped on 8 in the third over. Patel drove a delivery to Timothy Surujbally on the cover boundary to make it 126 for 5 as momentum shifted completely toward USA.

Usman Limbada was the next to go for 1 three balls into the 19th, slogging across the line to be bowled by Japen Patel for his fourth wicket. Hamza Tariq was caught slashing a thick edge to Gordon at short third man off the bowling of left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell for 3 to make it 139 for 7 with four balls remaining in the innings. Junaid Siddiqui was run out for 1 trying to complete a tight second for Jimmy Hansra with one ball to go in the innings. Jeremy Gordon was run out without facing a ball after he tried to take a second run on the final ball of Canada’s innings and Canada finished 148 for 9 off their 20 with Hansra not out on 17. McGarrell was USA’s most economical bowler, finishing with 1 for 14 in three overs.

For the second day in a row, USA had their opening partnership disrupted by an injury to a batsman attempting to complete a sharp single. On Friday it was Taylor who walked off injured and in the first T20 on Saturday, his club teammate Surujbally succumbed to a pulled hamstring. Surujbally got off to a rollicking start opening the chase with Mohammed. Seemingly inspired by what Cheema did in the first innings against Adrian Gordon, Surujbally rocked Canadian opening pace bowler Jeremy Gordon for 23 runs in the first over, including four boundaries and a six with four of the shots finishing up at the ropes between midwicket and fine leg.

However, Surujbally pulled up lame on the first ball of the third over bowled by Cheema and after staying out for two more deliveries could no longer continue, retiring hurt on 27 off just 10 balls with the score on 31 in 2.3 overs. Mohammed fell on the first ball of the fifth trying to hit a six over midwicket and instead sent a leading edge in the air to Daesrath in the covers for 11. Timil Patel lasted just two balls before he was caught on the long on boundary to give Junaid Siddiqui a wicket to make it 45 for 2. Two overs later Corns fell for 5, caught driving in the air to the cover sweeper off the left-arm spin of Rehman to make it 53 for 3 in 7.2 overs.

A day after getting out for a duck, Nicholas Standford got his eye in and appeared to be on his way to a sizable score, but he was dismissed for 23 playing back to a good length ball from Aulakh and was pinned LBW to make it 72 for 4 in the 11th as USA’s run rate began to plummet with the procession of wickets. Bhatti was stumped for 7 after he was beaten in flight by a quicker delivery from Daesrath. McGarrell slogged against the turn of Rehman and was caught at mid on for 3. Japen Patel skied an attempted slog off Daesrath that wound up in the hands of Rehman at mid off for 9 as USA fell to 95 for 7 in 16.

After being punished by Surujbally to start the innings, Jeremy Gordon was finally brought back in the 19th over and responded with a double-wicket maiden to end the match. He dismissed Saami Siddiqui for 7, caught at point by Rehman, before Mital Patel was bowled off an inside edge for a duck. With Surujbally unable to resume his innings, USA finished all out for 112. Rehman had Canada’s best figures, finishing with 2 for 21 in four.

In match number two, USA won the toss again but this time chose to bat first. While Timil Patel captained the team in match number one, Ryan Corns was tasked with leading the side for match number two and wound up shepherding USA to their only victory of the week. USA made six changes from the team that lost the first match of the day. Perkins, Bartley, Ganesh, Shahid, Danial Ahmed and Naseer Jamali entered the XI in place of McGarrell, Mohammed, Japen Patel, Mital Patel, Saami Siddiqui and the injured Surujbally. Canada made one change, swapping Aulakh out for Osinde.

Timil Patel opened the batting with Perkins and the two manufactured a 61-run stand for the first wicket in just 5.4 overs to put USA in a dominant position which they never relinquished. Perkins met his downfall when he made an ambitious attempt to clear Cheema at long off, one of the two fielders outside the circle in the power play overs, and was caught for 32 off the bowling of the leg-spinner Siddiqui. Standford got a start for the second match in a row, but fell in disappointing fashion when he spooned a full toss from Daesrath to Hansra at midwicket in the circle for 18 to make it 93 for 2 in the 12th.

Bartley entered at four and just as he did in the 50-over match on Friday, rarely wasted a delivery. He struck two sixes in his 26 off 14 balls, but just as importantly continued to turn over the strike at every opportunity to keep the scoreboard ticking. He was given LBW after being hit on the back leg to a full length delivery from the pace of Jeremy Gordon to make it 135 for 3 in 16. Corns entered at five and lasted until midway through the 19th before he played across to Cheema and was given LBW for 5 to make it 150 for 3. Bhatti entered and was caught on the midwicket boundary first ball to put Cheema on a hat trick.

While wickets were falling at the other end, Timil Patel played the anchor role for USA in the innings, knocking the ball around for singles and taking advantage of loose deliveries when possible to strike seven fours and a six. He brought up his 50 off 40 balls and by the time the innings was done, he finished with 67 not out off 55 balls, the second highest score by a USA batsman in T20 cricket behind Aditya Thyagarajan’s 72 not out against Ireland in Abu Dhabi at the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.

Canada made a good start to the chase, taking 32 runs off the first 4.5 overs with Gunasekera and Hiral Patel at the crease. But Canada’s chances of winning were essentially wiped away when the openers were dismissed on consecutive deliveries. Gunasekera was the first to go, hit on the back leg by a skiddy off-spinner from Ganesh to depart for 17. Patel went on the first ball of the sixth over for 10 when he skied a return catch to left-arm spinner Ahmed after an attempted slog to midwicket against the turn went awry. It was part of a wicket maiden by Ahmed who recovered superbly to give up only one run in his last two overs after giving up 12 runs in the opening over of the chase.

Tariq was the next to go for 12 after he slapped a wide delivery from Corns to Ahmed, who made a leaping catch in the covers. Hansra was the next to go for 19, runout after bolting for a single from the non-striker’s end while Daesrath rightly stayed put after hitting a delivery from Corns straight to Ganesh at midwicket. Daesrath departed three balls later for 15 at the start of the 13th as Ahmed made the catch of the week with a brilliant effort running from short cover to the edge of the circle to complete an over the shoulder catch, giving Timil Patel his only wicket of the match and Canada was at 79 for 5 to start the 14th.

Limbada was run out by Ganesh on the very next ball for a diamond duck when he hesitated coming back for a second run. Rehman was on strike and edged a delivery from Patel past the keeper Perkins. Ganesh ran from short fine leg across to short third man to field and it was his hustle that created the confusion. He threw the ball to Perkins with Limbada and Rehman halfway down the pitch, unsure whether to go for the second or return to their respective creases. Both wound up doing neither and Limbada paid for it in the end.

Cheema was dismissed by Bartley for 1 to make it 86 for 7 and two overs later Bartley got his second when he bowled Siddiqui for 3. Bartley claimed wicket number three in the 19th, bowling Osinde for 2 after he missed a slog backing away from the stumps. Adrian Gordon took the final wicket for USA, trapping Jeremy Gordon for 1 to end the match with Canada all out for 116 in 19.4 overs. Bartley had USA’s best figures in the innings with 3 for 14 in three overs. Rehman finished not out on 28 off 23 balls.

According to a press release prior to the Auty Cup, USA’s next scheduled action will be in March at the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament. Exact dates and location for the event are yet to be finalized. Meanwhile Canada’s next scheduled action will either be the same ICC Americas tournament or the next round of the Intercontinental Cup in Kenya. However, Kenya’s most recent match in the Intercontinental Cup was moved to Namibia after security concerns denied Kenya the opportunity to host the match and the same fate could occur for their fixture against Canada.

USA Cricket: More spin troubles for USA as Rehman takes 5 for 27 in 4-wicket win for Canada

openingbat — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 02:20:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation

An excellent start was wasted by USA after being sent in to bat as Raza-ur-Rehman wrecked the hosts lineup with an incisive spell of left-arm spin to take 5 for 27, propelling Canada to a victory by four wickets in a 50-over match on Friday at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. USA appeared set to post a minimum of 250 after a platform laid by William Perkins and Timothy Surujbally, but the home side went from 94 for 0 to 194 all out before Canada chased the target with 19 balls to spare.

USA made six changes from the lineup that played the two-day Auty Cup match on Wednesday and Thursday. Danial Ahmed, Adil Bhatti, Ryan Corns, Naseer Jamali, Andy Mohammed and Japen Patel made way for Barrington Bartley, Neil McGarrell, Mital Patel, Hammad Shahid, Saami Siddiqui and Nicholas Standford. Canada made a pair of changes as Manny Aulakh and Srimantha Wijeyratne sat out in favor of Henry Osinde and Jeremy Gordon.

Perkins and USA captain Steven Taylor opened the batting for USA and took the home side to 34 without loss when Taylor pulled up lame after completing a sharp single midway through the seventh over and had to retire hurt on 14. Surujbally came in and picked up where Taylor left off as he and Perkins cruised along against Canada’s opening pace combo of Osinde and Gordon.

However, the introduction of leg-spinner Junaid Siddiqui halted USA’s momentum, with Surujbally in particular struggling to turn over the strike. As Surujbally struggled for runs at the other end, Perkins took it upon himself to be the aggressor and paid for it with his wicket when he drove uppishly at a full and wide delivery from Rehman and sent a catch to Jimmy Hansra in the covers. Perkins walked off for 46 at 94 for 1 in the 23rd and before long it was clear that USA’s middle order couldn’t handle the pressure that began to be exerted by Siddiqui and Rehman.

Standford lasted eight balls before driving Siddiqui in the air to Rehman at point to register a duck on debut. Karan Ganesh failed to get his feet moving and was struck in front of the stumps by Rehman to be out leg before for 1. Surujbally finally perished for 28 in 54 balls when he played around a full toss from his main tormentor Siddiqui as USA spiraled downward to 100 for 4 in the 25th over.

McGarrell and Timil Patel briefly restored sanity to USA’s innings with a 44-run stand for the fifth wicket. It ended when Canada captain Rizwan Cheema dismissed Patel for 22, the only wicket taken by pace on the day for Canada. Bartley and McGarrell added 35 more for the sixth wicket before McGarrell was bowled by Rehman for 26 to make it 179 for 6 in the 43rd.

Two overs later, Bartley was bowled for 23 to give Rehman his fourth as USA slipped to 186 for 7. Shahid was caught at long on trying to slog Rehman over the ropes but fell for 1 to give Rehman his five-wicket haul. The innings wrapped up three balls into the 50th when Saami Siddiqui and Mital Patel got into a mixup that left Siddiqui run out for 6. With Steven Taylor unable to resume his innings, USA was all out for 194. Rehman’s 5 for 27 included four maidens in his 10 overs while Junaid Siddiqui’s spell was just as debilitating to USA as he finished with 2 for 29 in 10 with two maidens.

Canada had a brief hiccup at the start of their chase when Cheema was caught for 1 thanks to a brilliant tumbling catch by substitute fielder Adil Bhatti running to his right at mid off to give Shahid his maiden wicket at the senior level for USA. Hiral Patel and Ruvindu Gunasekera took the score to 70 in the 16th over before Patel was dismissed. Shahid had dropped him in the previous over off the bowling of McGarrell, but Patel failed to make the most of the reprieve, only lasting three more balls before Ganesh took a spectacular return catch diving to his right in front of Gunasekera at the non-striker’s end to remove Patel for 23.

Rehman’s stellar form with the bat from the two-day match failed to carry over into Friday after he was pinned lbw first-ball to put Ganesh on a hat-trick. Gunasekera fell for a run a ball 40 to Timil Patel thanks to a diving catch running in from long on by sub fielder Adrian Gordon to make it 82 for 4 in the 19th.

Just when it seemed like the tide was turning USA’s way, Usman Limbada thwarted any ambitions of victory by the hosts with an assured innings. Rather than get wrapped up in pressure by spin bowling as USA’s batsmen had, Limbada calmly eased the ball around in tandem with Damodar Daesrath as the two produced a 92-run stand for the fifth wicket. While former West Indies Test spinner McGarrell presented the biggest challenge, neither batsman succumbed to McGarrell during his miserly spell of 0 for 28 in 10 overs.

The stand finally came to an end when Daesrath was run out by Ganesh for 39 with Canada 21 runs away from victory with more than eight overs remaining. Limbada fell in the next over for 64 to Timil Patel as he failed to clear Standford at backward point with an attempted cut to make it 183 for 6.

Canada crawled through the next several overs and entered the 47th still needing eight runs to win. Hamza Tariq then hit the first ball for six and then Hansra hit the fifth ball of the over for another maximum over midwicket to seal the match, spoiling Timil Patel’s figures in the process as he finished with 2 for 49 in 8.5 overs. Ganesh took 2 for 24 in eight overs with his off-spin while medium pacer Shahid finished with 1 for 32 in eight overs with a maiden opening the bowling.

Canada’s tour of the USA concludes on Saturday when the two sides are scheduled to play a pair of Twenty20 matches at the Central Broward Regional Park. A live video stream provided by Cricket Canada in partnership with CBC Sports will be available from 9 a.m. The stream can be viewed at www.cbcsports.ca.

USA Cricket: Spinners dominate day two as Canada retains Auty Cup with draw

openingbat — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 01:06:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

First Innings Scorecard I Second Innings Scorecard

Spin bowlers Danial Ahmed and Timil Patel did their best to claw USA back into the match after a batting collapse on day two saw USA bowled out for 114, but Canada battled hard after being reduced to 60 for 6 in their second innings to hold on for a draw in a two-day match to retain the Auty Cup on Thursday at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida.

USA resumed play in the morning on 38 for 3 as Timothy Surujbally and Karan Ganesh continued in confident fashion with what turned out to be USA’s best partnership of the match. Things were somewhat heated in the morning session as Canada grew increasingly agitated after numerous LBW appeals were denied by the umpires. At one point, Surujbally was hit in the back of the leg with an attempted throw at the stumps by the bowler fielding in his follow through after which the umpires summoned Canada captain Rizwan Cheema to try to restore calm in the field.

Surujbally and Ganesh wound up adding 40 runs for the fourth wicket before Surujbally drove loosely against leg-spinner Junaid Siddiqui to offer a simple return catch to end his innings on 24 with USA 63 for 4. Timil Patel entered and fell in similar fashion for 11 to give Siddiqui his second wicket of the morning and the score was 77 for 5 after 28 overs. Japen Patel then padded up to a Siddiqui googly and was given LBW for a nine-ball duck to make it 83 for 6 in the 32nd.

Ganesh was run out two overs later by Raza-ur-Rehman after failing to pinch a tight single to the off side. Ganesh made USA’s highest score of the match with 29 off 70 balls but both he and Surujbally failed to carry on after being the only two USA batsmen to get good starts as USA was in danger of being asked to follow-on at 84 for 7. In a two-day match a team can be asked to follow on if the first innings lead is at least 100 runs by the side batting first.

However, Ryan Corns took that possibility out of the equation by scoring 20 runs at number nine, USA’s third highest score of the innings. He was given LBW after playing back to an off-spin delivery from Damodar Daesrath that kept slightly low and USA entered the lunch break at 111 for 8 in 43.2 overs.

Adil Bhatti was the ninth man to go shortly after play resumed, caught for 7 trying to slog Daesrath over Rehman on the long on boundary. Naseer Jamali was the last man out for 2, LBW to Jimmy Hansra’s off-spin and USA was all out for 114 in 46.5 overs, giving Canada an 82-run first innings lead. Siddiqui finished with 3 for 34 in 13 overs after his dominant spell in the morning session wrecked USA's batting.

Image (right) - Canada's Junaid Siddiqui ruined USA's chances of gaining a first innings lead with his spell of 3 for 34 to help bowl out USA for 114. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Hiral Patel and Srimantha Wijeyratne rocked USA’s opening pace attack of Jamali and Japen Patel for 25 runs off the first three overs in the second innings. USA captain Steven Taylor then elected to use spin bowling from the start of the fourth over through the rest of the day. It paid early dividends as Ahmed claimed Hiral Patel at the start of the seventh over, bowled through the gate for 15 to make it 28 for 1. Wijeyratne was bowled on the last ball of the 11th for 14 to an Ahmed delivery that kept slightly low making it 37 for 2.

Two more wickets fell on 37 to boost USA’s chances further of chasing a small target. Usman Limbada played inside the line of a Timil Patel leg-break to be dismissed for 5 before Cheema was struck dead in front of the stumps by Ahmed to be given LBW without scoring to end the 13th. Patel struck twin blows in the 20th and 22nd over to keep pace with Ahmed, first getting Daesrath caught slogging at mid on by Ganesh for 22 before Ruvindu Gunasekera was stumped for a 20-ball duck after being beaten badly in flight.

Despite the fact that they were 60 for 6, Canada still had plenty of batting depth with former captain Hansra fresh at the crease to join Rehman, who top-scored in the first innings with 88. USA’s inexperience showed as they failed to capitalize on their strong position. The pair added 41 runs for the seventh wicket, but more importantly ate up time as they batted together for 15.2 overs. Hansra was finally caught on the off side boundary by Jamali off Timil Patel for 28 off 43 balls to make it 101 for 7.

Ahmed took his fourth wicket after bowling Hamza Tariq for 9 to make it 117 for 8 in the 42nd, but Rehman and Siddiqui continued to keep USA’s bowlers at bay with Rehman notching his second half-century of the match. He finished on 54 not out off 117 balls with Siddiqui 9 off 12 before both sides agreed to call off play early with Canada at 159 for 8 after 51 overs. Left-arm spinner Ahmed bowled marvelously again on Thursday and finished with 4 for 34 off 18 overs with 7 maidens while leg-spinner Timil Patel was slightly more expensive with 4 for 50 off 15 overs with four maidens.

USA and Canada will square off again on Friday at the Central Broward Regional Park in a 50-over match. Play is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. in Florida with a live video stream being provided by Cricket Canada in partnership with CBC Sports. The stream can be viewed at www.cbcsports.ca.

USA Cricket: Canada claws back after early trouble to finish on top after day one of 2012 Auty Cup

openingbat — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 23:57:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

A solid opening burst by Canada’s Manny Aulakh neutralized any advantage USA might have had after bowling out Canada for 196 as USA finished play on 38 for 3 when bad light ended play early on day one of the two-day 2012 Auty Cup match at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. Raza-ur-Rehman finished as the day’s batting star, grafting out a top score of 88 off 197 balls on a bowler friendly wicket.

Canada won the toss and elected to bat first with play starting an hour late due to morning rain and a wet outfield. Naseer Jamali bowled a very impressive opening spell of left arm medium pace, nabbing the first three wickets on the day. After having Ruvindu Gunasekera caught off a no ball in the third over, Jamali got him to flash outside off to a legal delivery in the fifth and had him caught behind by USA captain and wicketkeeper Steven Taylor for a duck to make it 12 for 1.

Image (right) - Naseer Jamali file photo from 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup against India U-19. Jamali had USA's best figures on day one of the 2012 Auty Cup, finishing with 3 for 27. [Courtesy: USACA/Daniela Zaharia]

Fellow opener Hiral Patel was the next to go for 24, prodding defensively at a wide delivery to give Taylor a second catch making it 30 for 2 in the seventh. Jamali struck again on the first ball of the 11th as Ryan Corns caught Srimantha Wijeyratne at backward point for 7 to make it 39 for 3. Jamali finished his opening spell with figures of 3 for 21 off seven overs and ended the day with 3 for 27 in 10.

Adil Bhatti claimed the fourth wicket for USA when Usman Limbada offered a limp drive and feathered a third catch behind the stumps to Taylor for 3 to make it 57 for 4 in the 17th. Left-arm spinner Danial Ahmed kept things very tight at one end, bowling a seven-over spell before lunch for just nine runs, but Jimmy Hansra and Rehman went after leg-spinner Timil Patel and Canada managed to stabilize through their partnership to be 92 for 4 in 29 overs at lunch with Hansra on 16 and Rehman on 39.

Patel appeared to be a different bowler after the lunch break and was the man who broke the partnership between Hansra and Rehman. Hansra tried to flick him to midwicket and missed before being given LBW for 21 to make it 97 for 5 in the 31st. The wicket seemed to lift Patel’s confidence as he bowled marvelously from then on, producing a string of solid LBW shouts as well as beating the outside edge on a regular basis.

Corns replaced Ahmed for more left-arm spin and struck in the 38th over when he had Dasrath Damodar given LBW for 13 after missing a sweep shot to make it 122 for 6. Rizwan Cheema entered and tried to hack Canada out of trouble but he couldn’t clear Timothy Surujbally trying to go straight down the ground for a boundary and was caught for 10 off the bowling of Patel to make it 139 for 7. Patel claimed his second LBW decision two overs later, trapping Hamza Tariq for a duck to make it 139 for 8.

USA could not finish off Canada easily though and it was Rehman and Junaid Siddiqui who produced Canada’s best partnership of the day with 52 runs for the ninth wicket in the span of 20 overs. The pair grinded out runs off of Patel and Ahmed and took Canada to tea at 182 for 8 in 66 overs.

After play resumed, Ahmed was finally rewarded for his hard toil throughout the day with his first wicket in a USA uniform. While he didn’t bowl as many wicket-taking balls as Patel, Ahmed rarely bowled anything loose and continued to exert pressure until it finally paid off, pinning Siddiqui LBW for 22 to make it 191 for 9 in the 69th over. The innings wrapped up four balls into the 71st when Rehman drove Ahmed flat and hard to Karan Ganesh at mid off.

Ahmed finished with 2 for 39 off 19.4 overs including six maidens while Patel rebounded after a rocky first few overs to finish with 3 for 57 in 19 overs with three maidens. Corns finished with 1 for 9 in six overs with two maidens while Bhatti had 1 for 20 in five. Ganesh, Japen Patel and Andy Mohammed all went wicketless in brief spells with the ball.

USA opened their reply with Taylor and William Perkins. Neither man lasted very long though as Canada’s opening bowlers kept tight lines to prevent scoring and claim wickets. Cheema claimed Perkins in the sixth over for 15 after the batsman edged an attempted drive off a full delivery to Hansra at head height at second slip. Taylor went two runs later for 4 to make it 19 for 2 in the seventh, caught at backward point by Limbada off the bowling of Aulakh. Andy Mohammed was caught off the last ball of the ninth, driving very loosely at Aulakh to be caught at third slip by Damodar for a duck as USA fell to 23 for 3.

Surujbally and Ganesh lasted 5.1 overs together before bad light ended play with USA 38 for 3 in 14.1 overs in reply. Surujbally finished play on 15 with Ganesh on 3. Aulakh walked off with figures of 2 for 15 from six overs including two maidens while Cheema had 1 for 13 off five overs including one maiden.

Play is expected to resume at 9:30 a.m. EST from the Central Broward Regional Park with a live video stream of the match made possible by Cricket Canada in partnership with CBC Sports in Canada. The stream can be viewed off www.cbcsports.ca.

USA Cricket: Thyagarajan century headlines trial matches at 2012 National Championship in Florida

openingbat — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:27:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

USA veteran batsman Aditya Thyagarajan produced the top score at this weekend’s 2012 USACA National Championship in Florida as his 109 not out led the Eastern Conference to a 40-run win over the Western Conference on Sunday during a 50-over trial match at Brian Piccolo Park in Cooper City, Florida. The East posted 256 for 4 before bowling out the West for 216 in the 47th over.

The USACA National Championship wasn’t played in the traditional sense compared to previous years. Rather than have teams selected by their respective regions to compete in a round-robin super league event, this edition saw players hand-picked by USACA representing the “East” and “West” shuffle between rosters during the weekend in order to give players as many opportunities as possible to demonstrate their skill level against national talent. Thyagarajan, based in California, played for the West in a Twenty20 trial match on Saturday while one player, Saqib Saleem, batted and bowled within the same innings in the 50-over match on Sunday.

Thyagarajan entered at number five in the sixth over with the score at 19 for 2. Timothy Surujbally had retired hurt while Steven Taylor and Steve Massiah had been dismissed for 6 and 1 respectively after the East won the toss and elected to bat first. Like he has done on many occasions with the national team, Thyagarajan stabilized his team’s innings by building a 76-run stand with Ravi Timbawala, who made 43 in 67 balls.

Image (right) - Aditya Thyagarajan file photo in action against Denmark at 2012 ICC WCL Division Four in September. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

After Timbawala fell in the 24th over to Timil Patel, Thyagarajan teamed with Karan Ganesh to add 87 runs for the fourth wicket. Ganesh was caught behind off Japen Patel for 38 following which Thyagarajan added 74 more runs in an unbroken fifth wicket partnership with Adil Bhatti. Bhatti finished 35 not out off 28 balls while Thyagarajan’s unbeaten 109 came off 137 balls with eight fours and a six as the East finished on 256 for 4.

In addition to both Patels, Naseer Jamali and Usman Shuja claimed the other two wickets for the West. Shuja finished with 1 for 18 off five while Jamali had 1 for 29 off seven including a maiden. Ten bowlers were used in the innings by the West.

In reply, the West had several players get starts but with the exception of Orlando Baker, no one was able to turn in a significant score. William Perkins, the Trinidad & Tobago batsman who played one T20 International for the West Indies in 2008, made 20 in 19 balls before departing in the sixth over to the left-arm spin of Danial Ahmed. Japen Patel and Baker added 79 for the second wicket to give the West a solid platform to chase the target of 257, but the West was unable to accelerate and wound up losing by a comfortable margin.

Japen Patel made 40 off 74 balls before being dismissed by Saleem to make it 104 for 2 in the 24th. Timil Patel entered at number four and scored 40 off 54 balls but was trapped LBW by medium pacer Hammad Shahid to make it 173 for 3 in the 38th. Baker retired out on 58 off 80 balls at the end of the over with the score on 174, leaving the West needing 83 runs to win in 12 overs with Sushil Nadkarni and Saleem fresh at the crease.

With nine overs to go, the West needed 69 to win. It was then that Ganesh derailed the West’s chances of chasing the runs by taking three wickets in four balls. Ganesh bowled Nadkarni for 5 off the first ball of the 42nd. Two balls later he had Saami Siddiqui caught by Steven Taylor for a duck. He then followed it up by trapping Abhimanyu Rajp leg before to put himself on a hat-trick as the West slumped to 188 for 7.

Shuja was dimissed by Junaid Rasheed for 8, which was sandwiched between the dismissals of Saleem and Adrian Gordon by Bhatti as the West finished all out for 216 in 46.4 overs. Ganesh took 3 for 6 in two overs while Bhatti claimed 2 for 27 in 6.4 overs. Ahmed finished with solid figures of 1 for 32 in 10 overs including a maiden opening the bowling with Elmore Hutchinson, who finished with 0 for 26 in seven overs with two maidens.

In a Twenty20 match trial match on Saturday, Ahmed took 3 for 12 in four overs with a maiden as the East restricted the West to 100 for 7 in 20 overs before scoring 146 for 7 in 20 overs, batting out their full quota after passing the small target of 101. Ahmed claimed the big scalps of Thyagarajan and Nadkarni as well as Timil Patel to finish with the best bowling figures on the day. Nadkarni’s 30 off 34 balls was the high score in the first innings with 17 extras contributing to the total. Adil Bhatti claimed 2 for 12 in four overs while the other two wickets were a result of runouts.

In the East innings, Taylor was dismissed in the second over without scoring for an early setback. Perkins and Surujbally responded by blitzing the Western bowling unit for 77 runs in just 5.4 overs before both batsmen retired at the end of the seventh over with the score on 86. Perkins tallied 48 off 18 balls with three boundaries and five sixes while Surujbally walked off after scoring 35 off 22 balls including five fours and a six. Japen Patel had the next best contribution with 22 off 28 balls. Leg-spinner Saleem finished with 2 for 22 in four overs, claiming the wickets of Japen Patel and Andy Mohammed. Shahid, Hutchinson and Baker took a wicket each.

USA Cricket: New players eager for opportunity to represent men's national team

openingbat — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:30:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

In less than a week, USA will field seven first-time representatives at the senior level for during Canada’s tour to Florida as part of The Auty Cup. Danial Ahmed, Naseer Jamali, Timil Patel, Hammad Shahid, Saami Siddiqui, Nicholas Standford and Timothy Surujbally will all be traveling to Fort Lauderdale to put press their claims for a permanent spot in the USA lineup and give the selectors something extra to think about when they select teams in the spring for the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament and ICC World Cricket League Division Three.

“It was always a dream of mine to play for the country,” Standford said after being selected for the matches against Canada. Standford first came to New York from Barbados in 2004 and received his citizenship in 2011. He wants to leave an impression on US cricket in these matches in order to prevent it from being just a one and done assignment. “I’m picked now. I want to carry on. I’m 25. I’ve still got a lot of time to play some cricket. Hopefully this is the first of many tours.”

Siddiqui is another player holding the same sentiment. “I know I’ll be happy once I go there and do well,” Siddiqui said. “For me, just getting picked isn’t the end of the story. Real happiness is gonna come if I go and do well.”

Siddiqui previously represented the USA at the junior level as a wicketkeeper at the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. During USA’s qualifying phases in Canada, Siddiqui earned a Man of the Match award in a win over the Netherlands when he completed a catch, three stumpings, teamed up for a runout with Saqib Saleem and scored 18 with the bat in a 33-run win. The bond with his USA U-19 teammates is still strong as Siddiqui initially found out he’d been picked for the matches against Canada after receiving a text message from Ryan Corns, who will also be in the USA side against Canada in Florida.

Off the field, Siddiqui graduated last December from the University of California, Berkeley, after completing a double-major in Computer Science and Political Economics. He’s now working for a startup company in Silicon Valley. Balancing cricket with work is a lot easier than it was as a student for Siddiqui and he’s hoping that will allow him a chance to seriously push for a spot in the men’s side.

Image (right) - Naseer Jamali bowling against India with Saami Siddiqui keeping wicket during a 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup warm-up match in New Zealand. Two two have been picked to represent the USA men's side for the first time against Canada next week. [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia]

“I don’t have to miss practices because of group projects or mid-terms and don’t have to miss games either,” Siddiqui said. “My schedule is more stable. It’s more manageable than it was. Also my club was about 45 minutes away from Berkeley so my time was limited.”

Of all the new players, the one who brings the most experience to the table is Los Angeles resident Patel. The 28-year-old played 38 first-class matches, scoring a century and taking two five-wicket hauls for Gujurat in India’s Ranji Trophy competition. In this year’s SCCA Division One regular season, he scored 500 runs at 62.50 with five half-centuries. Only USA batsman Aditya Thyagarajan and former Nepal U-19 captain Kanishka Chaugai finished higher on the runs list. Patel’s leg-spin accounted for 47 wickets at 9.77 in 16 matches for Vijayta CC as well. The next best bowler claimed 33 scalps.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Patel said about being picked. “My performances have paid off. It feels really good to be in the squad.”

Ahmed, 27, makes his way into the USA squad after being the leading wicket-taker in the Washington Cricket League in 2012. A left-arm spinner, Ahmed took 38 wickets at 5.89 in only 13 matches. The two players who finished behind him, former Atlantic Region U-19 player Haris Ilyas and former USA national team member Naseer Islam, took 31 wickets in 19 and 16 matches respectively. Ahmed feels that fitness will be a key aspect of the performances with USA playing four matches in four days.

“I’m very excited, ready to go, working hard in the gym, practicing hard every day,” Ahmed said.

After just missing the final 14 and being named a reserve player for USA’s last two tours, Surujbally finally cracked the 14-man squad for this event. The Trinidad native came to Florida in 2007 and has been captaining International CC in the SFCA, spending much of his time batting alongside club, league and regional teammate Steven Taylor. After dismantling bowling attacks together at the lower levels, Surujbally is hoping he’ll get the chance to work in tandem with Taylor in a USA uniform.

“I love playing with Steven Taylor,” Surujbally said. “We destroy a lot of people here. I always saying to him, one day me and him, I want to open with him on the USA team. We open bat for our club, we open bat for south Florida, we open bat on so many occasions. I think both of us, we have a good chemistry together.”

With USA’s fast bowling depth going thin since the departure of both Imran Awan and Kevin Darlington from the national team, Shahid and Jamali have been given an opportunity to develop their games and test themselves against a very good Canadian batting unit. Shahid has two campaigns under his belt with the USA U-19 team and plays in the very competitive SCCA Division One. After going to New Zealand in 2010 with the USA U-19 team, Jamali was on the fringes of selection for the USA squad that went to the UAE to the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. He spent the past summer playing league cricket in Middlesex, England for Uxbridge CC where he took 25 wickets, second most at the club in 2012 while bowling the most overs for Uxbridge.

Most of USA’s first choice players are missing for The Auty Cup due to work obligations. USA will play Canada in a two-day match for The Auty Cup beginning on November 14 followed by a 50-over match on November 16 and two T20s on November 17.

USA Cricket: SCCA defeats CLNJ by 8 wickets to win 2012 American Cricket Federation Twenty20

openingbat — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 10:44:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Los Angeles (on Twitter)

Muhammad Asad Khan’s solid all-round performance in the semifinals and finals guided the Southern California Cricket Association to wins over Massachusetts State Cricket League by 89 runs in the morning followed by an eight wicket win over Cricket League of New Jersey in the afternoon as the SCCA won the inaugural American Cricket Federation Twenty20 National Tournament on Monday at Woodley Park in Los Angeles, California. Khan was named Tournament MVP for his performances in the event as SCCA knocked off the previously undefeated CLNJ in the final for the title.

SCCA began the day with an explosive batting display in their semifinal match against MSCL. After winning the toss and batting first, SCCA feasted on an MSCL bowling attack that struggled to find the right length. SCCA’s batsmen hit 21 fours and four sixes off their 20 overs, finishing on 198 for 6.

Rohit Yadav scored 22 of 24 runs in a first wicket partnership with Clayon Graham before being dismissed by Alexi Martin. Khan joined Graham at the wicket and the pair added 99 runs in 9.2 overs. Graham scored 55 off 34 balls and only had six dot balls in his innings when he was bowled by a Sharaz Baksh yorker. Khan finished with 70 off 43 balls before Baksh claimed him LBW with another yorker to make it 162 for 3 in the 16th over. Timil Patel and Amit Sood added 17 and 18 to boost SCCA to their eventual total, finishing just shy of 200.

Image (right) - Dr. Atul Rai presents Muhammad Asad Khan of the SCCA with the award for Tournament MVP. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

MSCL was 40 for 1 in 7 overs and managed to get to 53 four balls into the eighth over to stay within striking distance of the asking rate but Baksh was dismissed for 36 off 28 balls on the fifth ball of the over by Graham to put a serious dent in MSCL’s chances. When the big hitting Timmy Thomas was dismissed for a golden duck off the first ball of the ninth over by Patel, caught on the long off boundary, the dismissal all but sealed the match for SCCA. Patel finished with 2 for 18 and Shayan Abdulghani 3 for 19 as MSCL was bowled out on the last ball of the innings for 109.

In the other semifinal, CLNJ won the toss against Midwest Cricket Conference and despite the fact that CLNJ had won all three of their preliminary games batting first, elected to send MCC in to bat. MCC was restricted to 135 for 7 in 20 overs. CLNJ was 91 for 4 after 13 overs with the match evenly balanced, but thanks to 59 from Rohan Sheth, CLNJ managed to get across the line by four wickets with an over to spare.

In the final between SCCA and CLNJ, the east coast side won the toss and elected to bat first. CLNJ had several players get starts, but no one was able to carry on for a significant score. Sheth made 24 opening the innings and CLNJ captain Kunal Baride scored 25 at number four. Baride and Santosh Dani added 35 for the fifth wicket, but Baride fell with the score on 101 in the 16th, sparking a collapse that saw CLNJ lose three wickets in five balls for no runs to fall to 101 for 7. They were eventually bowled out for 118 in the last over. Left-arm spinner Abdulghani took 3 for 18 and finished with a tournament best 12 wickets.

Image (left) - Shayan Abdulghani receives an SG bat after being named Best Youth Player at the 2012 American Cricket Federation Twenty20. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

SCCA made light work of the chase, reaching the target in 13.4 overs. Yadav and Graham made 21 and 29 respectively before getting out as SCCA reached the 10-over mark at 81 for 2. Khan and Patel knocked off the rest of the runs with Khan finishing 37 not out in 25 balls and Patel 25 not out in 16 balls. Khan hit the winning runs with his eighth boundary.

At the post-tournament awards presentation, former USA U-19 player Abdulghani was presented with a bat from tournament sponsor SG after being chosen as the Best Youth Player on the weekend. CLNJ’s Jasdeep Singh was given the award for Best Bowler after finishing tied for first at the end of the group stage with six wickets including a hat-trick against Minnesota Cricket Association. Abishek Patel of the Southern Connecticut Cricket Association was named Best Batsman after being the top scorer in the group stage with 141 runs.

USA Cricket: Jasdeep Singh hat-trick helps take CLNJ to 3-0 after prelims at 2012 ACF Twenty20

openingbat — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 09:45:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Los Angeles (on Twitter)

Cricket League of New Jersey fast bowler Jasdeep Singh clean bowled three batsmen in three balls to complete a stunning hat-trick as CLNJ defeated Minnesota Cricket Association by 53 runs in the morning before clinching first place with a 3-0 record after a 1-run win over Southern Connecticut Cricket Association in the afternoon on the second day of the 2012 American Cricket Federation Twenty20 Tournament at Woodley Park in Los Angeles, California.

In Sunday’s other morning matches, Southern California Cricket Association defeated Washington Metropolitan Cricket Board by 131 runs, Michigan Cricket Association defeated Massachusetts State Cricket League by 28 runs and Midwest Cricket Conference defeated Southern Connecticut Cricket Association by 48 runs. In the afternoon, MSCL defeated MCA by 117 runs, MCC beat WMCB by seven wickets and Michigan Cricket Association stunned SCCA by 2 runs.

Four teams – SCCA, MCC, MSCL and Michigan Cricket Association – finished tied at 2-1 but Michigan was the odd team out to miss the semifinals as they had the lowest net run rate among the four. SCCA finished in second place on net run rate, MSCL third and MCC fourth. Monday’s semifinals will feature CLNJ taking on MCC while SCCA and MSCL face off in the other game.

CLNJ batted first against MCA and posted 132 for 8 in 20 as Santosh Dani top scored with 44 not out at number four. Singh’s hat trick to end the match overshadowed spin bowler Pradeep Vedala’s spell of 4 for 11 as MCA was bowled out for 79 in the 17th over.

Image (above) - CLNJ fast bowler Jasdeep Singh erupts after bowling his third batsman in three deliveries to complete a hat-trick against Minnesota Cricket Association. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

In the afternoon game between CLNJ and Southern Connecticut, CLNJ batted first and posted 149 for 7 in 29 as CLNJ captain Kunal Baride top scored with 33 off 22 balls at number five. In reply, opener Abishek Patel nearly took the New Englanders to victory with 90 before being run out going for the tying run on the final ball of the innings as Southern Connecticut finished on 148 for 8.

SCCA batted first in their match against WMCB and posted 194 for 4 in 20. Mohammad Asad scored 75 off 43 balls at number three and was well supported by Timil Patel who finished 40 not out in 25 balls at number four. WMCB could not handle the spin attack of SCCA as Patel took 2 for 9 in four while Shayan Abdulghani wiped out the tail with 3 for 7 as WMCB was bowled in for 63 in 18.3 overs.

Michigan batted first in their contest against MSCL and posted 179 for 6 with Manpreet Singh scoring 91 not out at number four with six boundaries and four sixes. Timmy Thomas scored 82 not out at number five in the MSCL chase, but lacked support and MSCL eventually finished on 151 for 6.

MCC batted first in the morning against Southern Connecticut, posting 154 for 7 in 20 overs. Mir Alavi top scored with 35 not out off 20 balls at number seven. Southern Connecticut’s chase never got going as they were reduced to 4 for 2 in the third over and finished on 106 for 9. Abhijit Joshi took 3 for 17 with his off spin while Aditya Venkatesan also bowled a clever spell of medium pace opening the bowling to finish with 2 for 13 in four.

MCC completed their comeback from a first day defeat at the hands of SCCA to clinch a spot in the semifinals with a convincing win over WMCB, who finished the event without a win. WMCB’s batting order collapsed as MCC captain Nirav Amin and Sameer Raorane ripped through the Washington side to leave them 37 for 6 before they eventually scraped their way to 121 thanks to intervention from WMCB captain Ankur Saini who scored 32 at number seven. MCC chased the runs in 15.1 overs as Sandeep Dhar top scored with 39 off 33 balls.

MSCL needed to win their afternoon game against MCA to qualify for the semifinals and did so in emphatic fashion after posting the highest score of the tournament, 210 for 5. Sharaz Baksh top scored with 53 off 25 balls but Fazal Alam, Huen Daley, Zeeshan Muhammad and Thomas all chipped in with good scores. MCA was restricted to 93 for 7 in reply.

In the final game of the day, Michigan ruined SCCA’s quest for an undefeated run through the prelims. Prajwal Shetty scored 50 opening the match for Michigan in their total of 139 for 7. Asad took 3 for 14 for SCCA. The host side appeared to be cruising to victory, needing only 18 to win with five overs left and five wickets in hand. SCCA then committed three run outs in the next four overs while stumbling for runs and entered the final over needing seven to win. During an attempted two at the start of the over, the umpires called one run short. Patel was run out for 29 and another run out on the last ball meant SCCA fell short with the last five wickets all run outs as SCCA ended on 137 for 9. Rather than claim the number one seed in the semifinals and a matchup with MCC who they beat convincingly on day one, they now face a stern test against an explosive MSCL batting lineup.

Live coverage of the final day’s play will begin at 10 a.m. PST from on DreamCricket.com.