USA Cricketer : Timroy Allen

USA Cricket: 2013 ICC WCL Division Three Report Card Part 3 - Outlook for USA's 50-over future

openingbat — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:22:00 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)

Click here for Part 1 - Team Grades and Part 2 - Player Grades

Part 3 - Outlook for USA’s 50-over future

1. Sort out the coaching situation – According to multiple team sources, Robin Singh was furious when talking to the team over the phone from India after USA lost to Bermuda on the last day of round-robin play. It’s hard to understand why he was furious though. Was it because he took a bigger paycheck from the Mumbai Indians to be in India instead of with USA during the Division Three tournament?

Singh is understood to have spoken to the team or team management after every match in Bermuda. Coaching by conference call is no way to coach. At the U-19 and men’s level, USA’s only successes under Robin Singh and his crew have been a second-place finish last September at ICC WCL Division Four and against ICC Americas competition, which is the least competitive standard USA encounters in international play.

Image (right) - Robin Singh, pictured during a match-day training session at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament in Florida, has USA way down the totem pole on his list of coaching priorities. Will he commit fully to USA or should USACA search elsewhere? [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

It is very hard to understand why Robin Singh is paid a princely sum for his services when the USA Cricket Association is an administrative pauper. A cash-strapped governing body certainly should be able to find a less expensive coaching option that will get them more value, specifically someone who is based in the USA and is willing to work with the players on a more consistent basis locally. Singh is paid to more or less be a chaperone on tours or as was the case in Bermuda, to consult by telephone rather than in person because he has higher priorities in India.

USACA needs to put their foot down once and for all to make Singh choose between coaching USA or sticking with his other commitments in Twenty20 franchise leagues around the world. If he wants to make more money coaching with the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League or the Khulna Royal Bengals in the Bangladesh Premier League then that's a perfectly normal decision. Coaching USA should be someone's first priority though, not their third, fourth or fifth.

2. Choose a new captain – Steve Massiah took over the role from Richard Staple as USA captain at the ICC Americas Division One tournament in August 2006. There are currently 42 international teams that USA has either played against from 2006-2013, been at the same tournament as USA in that time or are currently ranked above USA in the global 50-over rankings. Of those 42 teams, only three still have the same captain in 50-over cricket: Argentina (Esteban MacDermott), Papua New Guinea (Rarua Dikana) and Tanzania (Hamisi Abdallah).

It’s worth noting that not only has every ICC Full Member changed their 50-over captain in that time, but also every one of the High Performance Program Associate teams. Having a new captain is not necessarily a reflection of a regression in skills from the incumbent. It’s about having fresh ideas and fresh styles, trying something different when the status quo has not achieved desired results.

Image (left) - Steve Massiah, pictured batting against Uganda, has been USA captain since 2006, during which USA has failed to reach the ICC World Cup Qualifier in two consecutive World Cup qualification cycles. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA has effectively stood still in the global rankings since Massiah became captain. As a result of their 10th place finish at the 2005 ICC Trophy under Staple, USA was due to participate in 2007 ICC WCL Division Three in Australia before an ICC suspension dropped them down to Division Five. USA has since clawed back into Division Three twice. They were relegated from Division Three in 2011 and are now stuck there after a third place finish in 2013 instead of advancing to the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier. Prior to Massiah becoming captain, USA had participated in every single ICC Trophy, the former name of the ICC World Cup Qualifier, from 1979 through 2005. In seven years under Massiah's captaincy, no progress has been made and USA has arguably gone backwards after failing to reach the ICC World Cup Qualifier, let alone the main event, during two World Cup qualification cycles ahead of the 2011 and 2015 ICC World Cup.

Massiah is USA’s all-time leading scorer in one-day cricket and provided solid contributions at Division Three against Italy and Oman. However, his leadership has become stale and captaincy appears to have had some drain on his batting. He has not scored a century in tournament play since 2006. He doesn’t command a place in USA’s T20 team, let alone a spot as captain, with a T20 average of 11.00 in 14 games. So it’s conceivable that Massiah might not be a participant in any ICC tournament for two years when the next Division Three tournament is anticipated to take place in 2015. The time is right to make a change.

There are a few players who are good candidates to be USA’s captain in both formats. Sushil Nadkarni has been USA's vice-captain for several years and served as captain of the T20 team in the UAE last year. Orlando Baker led USA well in March at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One T20 and has plenty of experience under his belt.

Image (right) - After leading USA to an 8-0 record in March at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament, Orlando Baker would make a good choice to become USA's captain across all formats. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA could also choose to go in a different direction and adopt policies that countries such as Hong Kong and Nepal have employed by naming a much younger player as captain to give them time to ease into the role. In that scenario, Steven Taylor would be the obvious choice. Taylor served as vice-captain to Baker in March during the ICC Americas tournament. He will most likely be captaining the USA U-19 team in Canada this July and has previously captained the USA U-15 squad in 2009 so he is already gaining plenty of experience in leadership positions. It might be good for Baker or Nadkarni to be the captain for the next few years though until Taylor or another up and coming player like Ryan Corns, who captained USA during one of the two T20s against Canada during the Auty Cup tour in November, is ready to take over the mantle.

3. Commit to a core squad, one with better balance focused more on specialist batsmen and bowlers instead of an overload of allrounders and one-dimensional sloggers– USA's selection snafus were chronicled on DreamCricket.com well before the squad took part in Division Three. Taking a much closer look at the composition of USA's squad, they went to Bermuda with only three specialist batsmen: Massiah, Nadkarni and Rashard Marshall. The rest of the 14-man squad was made up of two wicketkeepers, four allrounders and five bowlers. It is almost impossible to win a tournament with such an unbalanced squad.

Taking the field with only three specialist batsmen, USA was basically forced to pick all four allrounders - Baker, Timroy Allen, Barrington Bartley and Japen Patel - in their starting eleven every game during the round-robin phase. Several members of USA’s management touted the fact that USA could bat to number 10 with Neil McGarrell and Elmore Hutchinson down the order, but that meant nothing if the players taking up those spots throughout the order are bits and pieces batsmen rather than full-fledged specialists. The truth is that having so many allrounders created the illusion that USA's batting contained more depth than there actually was. It also meant that no matter what, it would be near impossible for Danial Ahmed or Naseer Jamali to get a game in place of one of the allrounders because it would make USA's batting even thinner.

The unbalanced squad selection came back to bite USA by the end of the tournament, especially when Nadkarni was out with an injury in the final round-robin match against Bermuda. USA was not a team playing with six specialist batsmen in their usual starting eleven, let alone did they have the luxury to call upon a reserve specialist batsman. When Nadkarni couldn't play, USA sent out a starting eleven consisting of two specialist batsmen, two wicketkeepers, four allrounders and three specialist bowlers. It should surprise no one that they lost.

This was why dumping players like Aditya Thyagarajan and Aditya Mishra ahead of the tournament was a mistake. Specialist batsmen who can dig in and rotate the strike rather than relying on fours and sixes to score all of their runs would have been very handy to have against Uganda and Bermuda but they were nowhere to be found.

Although Marshall is a specialist batsman and Allen an allrounder, they have similar batting styles as does Bartley. Marshall demonstrated against Oman that he can knock the ball around for singles, but all three are heavily reliant on clearing the ropes to score the majority of their runs and they sometimes struggle to adjust if the match situation calls for a different method of scoring. At most, two players who play in that style can afford to be in the middle order and not three. Japen Patel playing at number nine and not bowling means he is not capable of holding down a spot in the team on his batting or bowling alone, let alone as an allrounder. Two of those spots in the starting eleven could have gone to specialist batsmen or one each to a batsman and a bowler like Danial Ahmed.

Overall, USA made six changes to the squad that advanced from Division Four in Malaysia. Nepal, the Division Four champions, only made one change to their squad for Division Three in Bermuda. Changing almost half the squad that gained promotion for USA into Division Three was a radical maneuver and clearly didn’t pay off. Meanwhile, Nepal stuck to their core group and wound up Division Three champions.

Image (left) - Aditya Thyagarajan is one of several veterans whose presence was sorely missed in Bermuda at 2013 ICC Division Three. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

The respective squad selections by USA and Nepal from 2012 ICC WCL Division Four to 2013 ICC WCL Division Three are a microcosm of a much deeper issue. From 2008 ICC WCL Division Five in Jersey - the first tournament that USA and Nepal ever played against each other - to 2013 ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda, Nepal has used 26 players in 81 games in 50-over and T20 cricket. Meanwhile, USA has used almost three times as many, 67 players, across 90 games in 50-over and T20 cricket (see list at end of section three). The list of 67 does not include four other players - Abhijit Joshi, Glen Hall, Hemant Punoo and Josh Dascombe - who either toured with USA's senior team without appearing in a starting eleven or played for USA in unofficial/warm-up matches. USA has picked 52 players that have appeared in 50-over and/or 20-over cricket plus an additional 15 players who have appeared solely in 20-over cricket. Nearly half of those players, 30, were picked for a single tour in that timespan. This means that USA has used more players for a solitary tour experience than Nepal has used for all of its tours combined from 2008-2013.

Those numbers, 67 total players and 30 one-and-dones, are absolutely staggering figures. It can’t be blamed on lack of availability for players to get time off from work or school classes either. It simply comes down to USACA’s lack of vision and planning, with almost no continuity from tournament to tournament.

USA only had five players in their squad for Bermuda that participated in the previous Division Three tournament in Hong Kong in 2011. Clearly, experienced hands like Thyagarajan and Shuja were missed more than anyone in Bermuda, but the services of others who were part of the team in Malaysia such as Mishra, who was USA’s T20 vice-captain in 2012, and Corns were also missed. More continuity and faith in a core group could have led to better results.

Looking elsewhere, a model Associate Member like Ireland has more or less used the same core group of players over the last few years which unsurprisingly has been a recipe for success. From the 15-man squad that was picked to go to the 2011 ICC World Cup, 11 were named in the squad that will play two ODIs against Pakistan later this month. The four who weren’t – Andre Botha, Nigel Jones, Boyd Rankin and Albert van der Merwe – are absent because all four have retired from international cricket. Regardless of the fact that the majority of Ireland’s players are contracted professionals and USA’s are amateurs with either classes or jobs to attend on a daily basis, Ireland’s administration has shown faith in a core group of players and stuck with them.

From the start of the 2011 ICC World Cup, Ireland has used a total of 19 players in ODIs and T20s. Essentially, Ireland has had 11 core players from 2011-2013 and has committed itself to developing four players to replace the four who retired since the 2011 ICC World Cup. Meanwhile, USA has used 50 players in official one-day and T20 matches from 2011-2013. Ireland and Nepal's consistent selection policies have been rewarded with on-field success while USA's fluctuating fortunes are a reflection of their inconsistent, mercurial, haphazard and scatterbrained selection policies.

Players USA has used in official matches since 2008 listed in alphebetical order
Note - Players who only appeared in a single tour from 2008-2013 are listed in bold italics

George Adams, Danial Ahmed, Quasen Alfred, Timroy Allen, Imran Awan, Orlando Baker, Barrington Bartley, Adil Bhatti, Ryan Corns, Robert Cresser, Lennox Cush, Kevin Darlington, Jignesh Desai, Sudesh Dhaniram, Akeem Dodson (wk), Dennis Evans, Durale Forrest, Karan Ganesh, Bhim George, Muhammad Ghous, Adrian Gordon, Hussain Haidar, Elmore Hutchinson, Moazzam Imtiaz, Naseer Jamali, Nasir Javed, Howard Johnson, Ritesh Kadu (wk), Asif Khan, Bilal Khan, Rahul Kukreti (wk), Rashard Marshall, Steve Massiah, Neil McGarrell, Ashhar Mehdi (wk), Stu Mills (wk), Aditya Mishra, Masood Mohamed, Andy Mohammed, Shahid Munir, Nauman Mustafa (wk), Sushil Nadkarni, Kumar Nandalal, Amir Nanjee, Japen Patel, Mital Patel, Timil Patel, William Perkins (wk), Steve Pitter, Abhimanyu Rajp, Gowkaran Roopnarine, Saqib Saleem, Greg Sewdial, Niraj Shah, Samarth Shah, Hammad Shahid, Usman Shuja, Saami Siddiqui (wk), Charan Singh, Nicholas Standford, Timothy Surujbally, Steven Taylor (wk), Aditya Thyagarajan, Anand Tummala, Clain Williams, Carl Wright (wk), Saurabh Verma.

4. Find at least one sponsor for the national team – USA and Oman were the only two teams in Bermuda not to have a sponsor on their jerseys. The USA jerseys themselves were flimsy, with the lettering on the jersey of at least one player falling off halfway through the tournament. Last year, USACA apparently had a brief arrangement with Reebok to have their jerseys provided but that deal has since dried up. It’s hard to believe that a USA national team in any sport has to pay for their uniforms instead of being paid by a major apparel sponsor to wear that sponsor’s logo, but that is the situation USACA continues to find itself in.

Although USACA cleverly presents several business entities as “USACA Partners” on their web site, USACA doesn’t have any genuine sponsors. An ideal business tie would be with one of the many domestic airlines in the USA. Since 2011, USACA has had two board members who are employees at a pair of major airlines, United and American. Such a sponsorship might help defray costs of flying players in and out of Florida for camps, trials and domestic tournaments.

One of former USACA CEO Don Lockerbie’s failures was in not securing any sort of sponsorships in the five to six-figure range. Lockerbie overestimated USA’s market value and kept seeking million dollar deals which never appeared. Although he played a major role in linking USACA with New Zealand Cricket and other investors to form Cricket Holdings America LLC, that partnership has so far done little to advance cricket in the USA financially or developmentally.

Image (above) - Uganda had a sponsor, Mehta Group, at 2013 ICC WCL Division Three. Meanwhile, USA was without corporate support for yet another international tournament. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

There’s no reason why USACA should not be able to find a bank sponsor, airline sponsor, hotel sponsor, automobile sponsor and/or a beverage sponsor in addition to a separate corporation or business as a title sponsor for all of its endeavors. Securing sponsorships is supposed to be Darren Beazley’s calling card. USA’s stakeholders will see over the next few years if he lives up to his billing in that regard.

Reaching the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier might have made it easier for Beazley to secure a sponsorship and finishing in the top four would have almost made it a slam dunk because USA would have then qualified for the ICC High Performance Program, which would have carried admission into the Intercontinental Cup as well as ODI status. USA would have then had a guaranteed number of fixtures each year outside of ICC tournaments. Another domino effect of that would have been an incentive to give a handful of USA’s younger players such as Taylor, Allen and Muhammad Ghous central contracts with any sponsorship funds that could have flowed in.

Instead, USA will now be without a 50-over ICC tournament until at least 2015 and if USA doesn’t finish in the top six at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in November, USA will not participate in a single 50-over or 20-over ICC tournament in 2014. It’s nearly impossible to award a USA player a central contract when they may only be playing a handful of games a year. It’s also hard to secure sponsorship when a team has only a handful of non-televised fixtures to display a sponsor’s logo on a jersey on the field, meaning the opportunities are limited for the sponsor to get exposure and a return on their investment. That makes Beazley’s job much harder, but not impossible.

[Views expressed in this article are those of the author who was present at all of the team's matches at 2013 ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda. 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: 2013 ICC WCL Division Three Report Card Part 2 - Player Grades

openingbat — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:17:00 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)

Click here for Part 1 - Team Grades

Part 2 - Player Grades

Steven Taylor – C: The 19-year-old started off the tournament in style by posting USA’s second highest score in limited overs cricket, 162 off 102 balls to lead USA to a win over Nepal. Without Taylor’s dominant performance USA might not have won that match. However, he seemed to have exhausted himself in that match. Low scores piled up in the next few games and his confidence wavered heading into the crucial showdown against Bermuda. After scoring a century against Bermuda in a T20 encounter last March in Florida, Taylor was out for 9 against them in the round-robin encounter in Bermuda.

With the pressure off the next day in the third place game, he set about rebuilding his confidence with 97. His huge score against Nepal helped place him atop the tournament run charts after the round-robin stage and his half-century against Bermuda on the final day guaranteed him the same position at the end of the tournament. Unfortunately, he lacked consistency from game to game. Still, USA should not have had to rely solely on Taylor to score runs to register a win over Uganda or Bermuda.

As for his wicketkeeping/fielding skills, Taylor was as likely to hold onto a chance as to put one down. He took six catches and had three stumpings with the gloves on, but DreamCricket.com’s unofficial stats show he also dropped six chances – five behind the stumps and one in the outfield. In T20s, it appears that Akeem Dodson may get more of the wicketkeeping workload to keep Taylor fresh but in the 50-over game Taylor is the preferred option to keep the batting solid. USA won’t be playing a 50-over ICC tourney for at least two years but if they want to continue using Taylor as a keeper instead of a specialist batsman in that format then he needs to work very hard to improve his glovework, not to mention his fitness, to be able to make it through tournaments better.

Orlando Baker – C: The allrounder opened the batting with Steven Taylor on three occasions, producing mixed results. He provided solid support for Taylor on the opening day with 37 as part of a 125-run first-wicket stand, USA’s highest ever partnership against Nepal. Combined with the 156-run third-wicket stand those two had against Bermuda in the third place playoff, they generated the two highest partnerships by any team in Bermuda. He also combined with Akeem Dodson for an important 82-run third wicket stand in their round-robin game.

While he was a very good partnership builder, Baker didn’t enjoy the same amount of success individually. He made 2 against Italy, then scored 20 while facing up to the unenviable task of taking on Oman opening pacer Munis Ansari, before wrapping up the group stage with 1 against Uganda and 29 against Bermuda. He finished with 89 runs at 17.80 after the group stage. In the playoff match, he made 72 and in the process became the third USA player to pass 1,000 career runs in 50-over cricket.

Image (right) - Orlando Baker bowling at 2013 ICC WCL Division Three. He was USA's most economical seam bowler at the tournament. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

With the ball he was a very restrictive bowler and finished with USA’s second best economy rate, 3.46. He only took one wicket, but had two other chances grassed off his bowling. The conditions against Bermuda on the final day of round-robin play were perfect for Baker’s style of bowling, but USA captain Steve Massiah never gave him the ball, a very curious decision. USA coach Thiru Kumaran stated after the tournament that if he was the captain, he would have definitely given the ball to Baker during Bermuda’s chase. It’s a choice USA may regret for quite a while.

Steve Massiah – D: This is a combination of a C+ for batting and an F for captaincy. Massiah’s highest score was a handy half-century against Italy. After being dropped on 0 off Ansari, Massiah’s 39 against Oman was vital not just for the runs on paper but because he was able to shield the middle and lower order from Ansari’s pace. He top-scored with 24 in USA’s dreadful display against Uganda and then collapsed when the pressure was on in the final round-robin encounter against Bermuda where he was dismissed without scoring. He ended group play with 125 runs at an average of 25.00, then was out first ball in the third place playoff against Bermuda.

His tactical decisions sometimes left a lot to be desired and in some ways were eerily similar to some of the decisions made when USA flopped in Hong Kong at 2011 ICC WCL Division Three. After walking down the pitch in a pressure situation and getting stumped for nought batting at number eight against Oman, Japen Patel was sent in to open in the next game against Uganda. It was as if team management was saying, “We’re afraid this player might fail if he has to enter in a pressure situation later on down the order, so in order to avoid that we’ll send him in to open. Any runs he scores will be a bonus for the team and if he gets out cheaply opening the innings then at least we still have plenty of batsmen to recover.” Disrupting the roles and responsibilities of multiple players to accommodate one player is never a recipe for success. USA proved this by sending Lennox Cush in to open after repeated middle order failures in Hong Kong. USA’s chances for victory against Nepal at Division Four in Malaysia last year were also submarined when Timroy Allen was moved up to number three in the order to shield Massiah, who had been struggling against spin bowling. When USA needed a late surge in that match against Nepal, their best lower order power hitter was back in the pavilion instead of ready to come to the crease.

In the last round-robin match against Bermuda, several strategic errors were made. Slotting Patel in to bat at number nine and not having him bowl was a strange maneuver. Naseer Jamali or Danial Ahmed as specialist bowlers would have been much better options instead of a batsman at number nine. After conceding 20 runs in his only over, Massiah refused to give Hutchinson an opportunity to atone even though he had been USA’s second best wicket-taker coming into the match. Meanwhile, Timroy Allen, who had been struggling with the ball all tournament, was hit for 27 runs off his fourth over but was still brought back for two more spells, albeit bowling spin instead of pace. Allen finished with 1 for 63 off 10 that day.

Massiah also ignored the experienced Orlando Baker, USA’s second most economical bowler in the tournament. Baker is tied for fourth all-time in the wicket-takers list for USA in one-day cricket and has a reputation as a cagey seamer with a nagging line and length that most teams find difficult to score off. Massiah opted to bowl himself instead of Baker. Few, if any other captains, would have tossed the ball to Massiah in those circumstances but he stubbornly bowled himself. With USA needing to keep Bermuda under four an over, he finished with a spell of 1 for 41 in eight overs. Even with only 220 to defend, USA should have beaten Bermuda that day. A combination of poor fielding and poor decision-making before and during the match cost USA not just that game, but a spot in the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier.

Sushil Nadkarni – B-: USA’s vice-captain stepped up with a key 73 to bolster USA in a win over Italy and was part of three half-century stands in the tournament, one against Nepal and another two against Italy. He was sent in above Massiah to try to deal with Ansari’s pace against Oman and managed just 7 before making another low score after arriving in the middle order in difficult conditions against Uganda.

Image (left) - Sushil Nadkarni knocks one into the off side against Italy. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Nadkarni took three catches, including the catch of the tournament for USA against Uganda. USA missed him badly against Bermuda when he had to sit out the final two matches of the tournament with a nerve problem in his left leg, especially since Nadkarni had scored a century against Bermuda in the trial matches in March in Florida ahead of Division Three. He finished the tournament with 114 runs at an average of 28.50, fifth on the team in Bermuda.

Rashard Marshall – B: The middle order batsman produced one of USA’s best ever performances under pressure against Oman. Entering in the 10th over with USA 37 for 3, Marshall survived a missed runout chance early in his innings and went on to make Oman pay, cracking four boundaries and six sixes on his way to finishing 72 not out and taking USA to a two-wicket win. He arrived at a stage against Bermuda where he needed to take USA to a much bigger total but he got into a mixup with Barrington Bartley which ended with Marshall going back to the pavilion for 5.

Marshall finished fourth overall in runs and average at the tournament for USA with 128 at 32.00. He took an outstanding one-handed catch against Bermuda, but also grassed three other chances which is unusual for someone of his fielding ability. It was a decent comeback tournament for Marshall after not playing for USA in over two years.

Timroy Allen - C: Like Taylor, Allen was hot with the bat early in the tournament before cooling off later on. He scored two half-centuries in USA’s first two matches, 67 not out against Nepal followed by 51 not out against Italy. Unfortunately, he only scored 24 runs in the other four matches. He played a foolish shot to get out against Uganda, slogging to deep square leg after Baker had gotten out in the same manner a short time earlier. Against Bermuda he reached 19 before being caught on the boundary which hampered USA’s efforts to post a bigger score. Like Taylor, it would be unfair to pin USA’s batting failures at the back end of the tournament on Allen when several players never produced in any game.

With the ball he was a disappointment, taking four wickets at an average of 51.75 with an economy rate of 5.17 during the group stage. He went for more than five an over against Uganda, taking 2 for 37 in seven overs when Uganda only made 175, and was smacked for 27 off one over against Bermuda before finishing with 1 for 63 in 10. A bigger burden was placed on Allen to perform with the ball in the absence of the experienced Usman Shuja but Allen did not respond very well.

Image (right) - Timroy Allen, pictured in action against Uganda, struggled to take wickets in Bermuda. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Barrington Bartley – D: Undoubtedly the poorest performing player on tour. There were high expectations for Bartley after his whirlwind century against Bermuda in a trial match against them in March. He assumed a key middle order role for USA in Bermuda but did not deliver once. Bartley came to the crease at the 37th, 45th, 34th, 26th, 31st and 38th over mark during USA’s six games in Division Three. He was never able to remain until the end of the innings. His longest stay at the crease lasted just 20 deliveries when he made 21 but also contributed to the runout of Marshall against Bermuda. His one redeeming moment with the bat came against Oman when he struck two sixes and a four in his short stay to take USA within seven runs of victory before Marshall and Hutchinson finished the job. The largest partnership Bartley contributed to was a 29-run sixth wicket stand in the round-robin match against Bermuda. Overall, he looked like a Twenty20 slogger who seemed unsure how to approach a 50-over innings, especially during difficult situations.

With the ball he was mediocre, taking three wickets during the group stage at an average of 39.66 and an economy rate of 4.40. He was arguably USA’s best bowler in a losing effort against Uganda, taking 1 for 25 in 10 overs. After his failures with the bat, he had one more chance to save face with the ball against Bermuda but he mixed in boundaries with dots and could not sustain pressure long enough to keep them at bay. He was okay as a fielder but did not do enough with bat or ball.

Neil McGarrell – A-: One of the few players who can hold their head up high after coming back from Bermuda, McGarrell performed at a consistently high level in what may turn out to be his only ICC tournament in a USA uniform. He was USA’s leading wicket-taker and finished the group stage tied for the tournament lead in wickets with 12 at an average of 14.58 and an economy rate of 3.55. He only bowled one truly bad over the entire tournament when he was swept for three boundaries by Laurence Sematimba of Uganda.

He could’ve been even more productive with the ball had five catches not been put down off his bowling, although one of those was a return chance he was responsible for. In the field, he took one catch but managed to shell three chances overall, including a crucial chance off Christopher Douglas at slip when the Bermuda wicketkeeper was on 64. It was the only blemish on his gritty performance that day when he scored 45 not out at number seven and then took 1 for 21 in 10 overs while bowling with a severe quadriceps strain that he suffered near the end of his innings while trying to turn a two into three for Patel.

Japen Patel – C-: USA’s selectors and management have clearly identified Patel as a player they want to develop, but they have demonstrated a bizarre method of doing it. The selectors could be heard in Florida in March talking up his bowling skills as a reason for his inclusion but Patel only bowled a total of seven overs in the tournament, taking two wickets against Oman. It was hard to classify him as a specialist batsman either. He didn’t bat at all against Nepal when USA used eight batsmen, came in twice at nine, once at eight, and opened once during USA’s five group games scratching together 46 runs at an average of 11.50. He eventually added another 34 in the third place playoff against Bermuda batting at number six.

Patel was a player without a clearly defined role. If you were from the opposition, you might be fooled into thinking he was playing for USA as a specialist fielder. Indeed he was an asset for USA in the field, taking two catches and also pulling off two runouts but also spilled two other chances. He was very sharp at attacking the ball and preventing singles from turning into twos while patrolling the boundary.

At the end of the day though, picking someone to bowl one over against Nepal and then not at all against Italy and Bermuda after being penciled in at number nine in the batting order would appear to be a mistaken selection. If Patel is to have a future with USA it would be with his batting, which has improved somewhat since he first made his USA debut in 2011 but still has miles to go to warrant a spot in a starting eleven.

Elmore Hutchinson – B-: Hutchinson had his best tour in a USA uniform and was USA’s best pace bowler on tour. He took eight wickets in the group stage and finished with 10 overall, second behind only McGarrell for USA. His best haul came against Italy, taking 3 for 44 in nine overs, but he also turned in solid figures against Uganda with 1 for 12 in five overs. Hutchinson had a nightmarish over at the start of Bermuda’s chase at the National Stadium, conceding four boundaries to Christopher Douglas as part of a 20-run frame, and was never given the ball again that day.

With the bat he finished with USA’s highest average on tour, scoring 52 runs while being dismissed only once, which says as much about his own batting abilities as it does about the impatience of those batting in front of him. He hit the winning single in a two-wicket victory over Oman and also finished 17 not out off 35 balls against Uganda, the third most runs scored and third most deliveries faced by a USA batsman that day, proving that it was possible to knock the ball around for singles for those with the patience to do so. Hutchinson also had a fairly safe pair of hands on the boundary with three catches while his only drop was a sharp caught and bowled chance. It’s a shame that his next 50-over ICC tournament might not be for another two years because he made solid strides in this event.

Muhammad Ghous – B+: This was one of the more impressive tournament performances of Ghous’ career in the men’s national team. Unfortunately it had to come in what was ultimately a third place finish. He was USA’s most economical bowler and finished with a 3.42 economy rate overall in the tournament. Along with McGarrell’s 10-over spell, the initial eight-over spell by Ghous of 0 for 21 in eight overs against Bermuda was the only thing keeping USA in that match.

Image (left) - Muhammad Ghous was USA's most economical bowler at 2013 WCL Division Three. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

He only took five wickets in the group stage but also had five drops off his bowling in the tournament and batsmen found him difficult to get away. His only subpar match was against Uganda and even then he went for under five runs per over, finishing with 1 for 37 in eight overs. His four wickets against Bermuda in the third place playoff took him to a tie with Allen and Howard Johnson for ninth all-time in the wickets column for USA in one-day cricket with 31. He turned 23 in April so even though USA failed to reach the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier, if they continue to play a 50-over ICC tournament every few years then Ghous may eventually become USA’s highest ever wicket-taker in the format.

Akeem Dodson – Incomplete: The reserve wicketkeeper on tour came into USA’s lineup for the final round-robin encounter against Bermuda and scored a half-century, USA’s high score on the day. He only came in as a result of an injury to Sushil Nadkarni, but USA might have been better served playing him earlier in the tour as a wicketkeeper to allow Taylor to play as a specialist batsman and ease his workload.

Naseer Jamali – Incomplete: Did not play in any of the five round-robin matches and took 1 for 21 in four overs against Bermuda in the third place playoff.

Danial Ahmed – Incomplete: Did not play in any of the five round-robin matches and took 0 for 38 in eight overs against Bermuda in the third place playoff.

Coming up in Part 3 – Outlook for USA’s 50-over future

[Views expressed in this article are those of the author who was present at all of the team's matches. 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: 2013 ICC WCL Division Three Report Card Part 1 - Team Grades

openingbat — Fri, 10 May 2013 19:18:00 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)

Part 1 - Team Grades

Batting – C+: USA had the tournament’s highest scorer after the group stage and overall in Steven Taylor. They also had eight of the 12 highest partnerships in the tournament, with two century stands and seven half-century stands overall. Unfortunately, USA’s batting lacked the overall consistency from the beginning to the end of the tournament as well as from the top to the bottom of the order.

The team scored one century and eight half-centuries, but also compiled eight ducks. The first wicket partnership of Taylor and Orlando Baker produced 125 runs on the first day, USA’s best ever partnership against Nepal, but after that the first wicket partnership averaged just 6.20 the rest of the tournament.

Image (left) - Steven Taylor acknowledges his USA teammates after reaching 100 against Nepal on the opening day of the tournament. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA’s best opening tandem in 50-over cricket is Taylor and Sushil Nadkarni. Although USA has had a long established strategy of slotting Nadkarni down the order against Nepal, there was no reason why he should not have been opening in the other matches he played. USA coach Thiru Kumaran stated after Nadkarni missed the crucial round-robin showdown against Bermuda that, “Sushil getting injured and not coming in, maybe that could have affected us a little bit. Being an important game, we didn’t have our best player, our best opener there.”

If Nadkarni is USA’s best player and best opener, it stands to reason that he should have been opening throughout the tournament but he never opened the batting once for USA and that hurt them in the end. The most surprising pair sent out to open was Japen Patel with Taylor against Uganda. Patel is a player who has shown some improvement with his batting and USA’s administration is eager for him to develop, but he has no business batting above Nadkarni under any circumstances, let alone open above him.

USA’s best partnerships of the tournament came for the third wicket where they averaged 71.83. Baker and Taylor produced USA’s best partnership from that spot in the third place game, 156 runs against Bermuda. USA also had half-century stands for the third wicket against Nepal (Taylor and Nadkarni), Italy (Massiah and Nadkarni) and against Bermuda in the last round-robin game (Baker and Dodson).

USA’s middle to lower order partnerships were strong when the pressure was off in the third place game against Bermuda and after a huge platform had been set against Nepal, but otherwise the segment of the game where Aditya Thyagarajan usually specializes in fell apart for USA in his absence. They averaged 14.17 for the fifth wicket and 6.83 for the sixth wicket in the tournament. USA put up a 93-run unbeaten stand for the seventh wicket against Nepal, but in the other four group games they averaged 12.50 for the seventh wicket. Thyagarajan’s ability to put together partnerships in the middle and lower order was sorely missed especially against Oman, Uganda and Bermuda.

Worst of all was the cardinal sin committed by not batting out all 50 overs against Uganda. It cost USA by the end of the tournament when the net run rate tiebreaker came into play. The team shot themselves in the foot multiple times in that match with foolish shots to get out and displayed an inability to rotate the strike. The game plan appeared to be for batsmen to slog their way out of trouble or get out doing it. Uganda scored 92 runs off ones and twos in that match while USA could only manage 36 runs off singles and doubles. No matter how difficult the pitch was in the second innings, that’s poor.

Overall, USA benefitted greatly from missed chances by their opponents. The tournament could have turned out much worse for USA had they not had such good fortune at the crease, although USA more than repaid it in the field against Bermuda. Opponents committed less drops than USA in the field, but USA punished their opponents more for each drop. USA's opponents conceded 14 missed chances during the group stage, but USA seized an extra 354 runs off the misses. Four times a USA batsman finished not out after being dropped. After the first time a batsman was dropped, USA averaged 44.25 extra runs. The most valuable second chance USA had during the group stage was when Oman goofed up a runout opportunity when Rashard Marshall was on 12. The bowler dislodged the bails without the ball in his hand and Marshall went on to win the match for USA by making 72 not out in a two-wicket win.

Bowling – B: USA’s bowling unit performed well for most of the tournament with their only glaring letdown coming during the Christopher Douglas ambush in the last group match against Bermuda. USA allowed just three half-centuries during the tournament, but allowed eight half-century stands during the event, including two in that crucial match against Bermuda. Neil McGarrell was tied for first atop the wickets list after the group stage with 12.

Image (right) - USA fast bowler Elmore Hutchinson on his approach to the crease. Hutchinson finished second on the team with 10 wickets in the tournament. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA’s opening bowlers were good at making early breakthroughs. The opposition averaged 13.50 for the first wicket and twice the opposition lost their first wicket without scoring. But the biggest opening stand came at the worst possible time for USA, 43 by Bermuda in their upset win on the last day of round-robin play. The opposition’s best partnerships were for the fourth wicket with an average stand of 37.00 including two-half century stands produced by Bermuda and Uganda. Each of those stands could have been curtailed had USA converted catching or runout opportunities provided to them in the field.

USA also lacked a killer instinct to wipe out the tail, something they have struggled with in the past, as Steve Massiah’s preferred method of captaincy is to let a match drag on rather than go for the kill. As a result, the ninth wicket stand for the opposition averaged 27.40. Noteworthy partnerships of 44 and 41 were produced by Nepal and Oman, something that turned out to be crucial by the end of the tournament when the net run rate tiebreaker came into play.

Fielding – F: USA missed 24 definite chances in the tournament (19 drops and five missed runouts), an average of four per game, while numerous other runout half-chances were missed in the field. Many teams have varied levels of batting and bowling skills, but the two things that every international side can do to narrow any gap against their opponent is to outwork them with fitness and fielding. USA always lags behind in both areas and it keeps their opponents in games.

USA had 19 missed chances during the group stage with the chances coming off 10 batsmen. On six occasions in the group stage, USA gave the same player multiple lives and on three of those occasions they dropped a player three times in one innings. After a batsman’s first missed chance, USA gave up an average of 24.33 extra runs to that player during the group stage, conceding a total of 219 runs overall after missed chances in their first five games. On average, USA conceded an extra 36.50 runs per game in the group stage on missed chances.

The costliest miss came against Nepal, when number seven batsman Sharad Vesawkar was dropped on 0, the first of three extra lives he was given, and made 72. USA’s fielding was horrendous against Bermuda, with six definite missed chances and many more half-chance runout opportunities lost. At 2012 ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia, Singapore began a frantic chase on the last day against USA by stealing sharp singles at will in the first nine overs. A direct hit by Ryan Corns in the 10th over put Singapore on notice that they could no longer keep challenging USA in the field the way they had been and suddenly the pressure shifted onto Singapore as USA strangled the scoring rate.

All it would have taken was a single runout in the first 15-20 overs to put off Bermuda from stealing those sharp singles at the National Stadium on the final day of round-robin play in Hamilton. USA’s fielders did not score a direct hit the entire afternoon, whether or not a batsman had his bat across the line, and on multiple occasions fielders panicked under pressure by choosing the wrong end to throw to. Many other opportunities could have been converted with an accurate throw to wicketkeeper Akeem Dodson over the stumps. Instead, throws short-hopped into his feet or were wide enough of the stumps that he had to dive just to save them from turning into extra runs on overthrows. USA finally converted a run out in the 35th over, by which time Bermuda had run away with the match. Bermuda reached the target in the 45th.

Fitness – C-: USA’s fitness was good in the early stages of the tournament, but flagged as the tournament continued and was a contributing factor in their losses to Uganda and Bermuda. Taylor was well conditioned at the start of the tournament and his 162 against Nepal was chanceless.

However, he appeared to be weighed down by wicketkeeping on top of opening the batting as the event wore on. The team’s flagging fitness had a definite impact against Bermuda with so many sloppy fumbles, misfields, misfired throws and drops. It’s not as if Bermuda’s fitness was much better with two batsmen, Douglas and Stephen Outerbridge, struggling through their innings while cramping up. Yet they managed to find a way past it while USA was hampered.

USA will have plenty of time to work on their fitness though. By finishing out of the top two in Bermuda, their next 50-over ICC tournament won’t be for another two years.

Coming up in Part 2 - Player Grades

USA Cricket: Taylor's 97 delivers 30-run consolation win over Bermuda at 2013 WCL Division Three

openingbat — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:12:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Bermuda (on Twitter)

DreamCricket.com's coverage on site from Bermuda at 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three is sponsored by New Inning Foundation.

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

USA opener Steven Taylor top scored with 97 as USA achieved a 30-run win over Bermuda in the third place playoff match at St. David’s Cricket Club in Bermuda on Sunday at 2013 ICC WCL Division Three. Taylor was named Man of the Match for his knock and finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with 274 runs in six games, 82 runs ahead of the next man on the list, Italy’s Peter Petricola with 192.

“If we could have done it yesterday that would have been really sweet,” USA coach Thiru Kumaran said after the match. “The thing about today’s match is if we win this it’s not really important but if you lose you go back really, really sad. So it was really important to win this game and guys played really well. They understood what they did wrong yesterday. They played a really good game today.”

USA won the toss and elected to bat making two changes to the side that lost on Saturday to Bermuda at the National Stadium. Danial Ahmed and Naseer Jamali both got their first games of the tournament in place of Rashard Marshall and the injured Neil McGarrell. Sushil Nadkarni also stayed out with a pinched nerve that has been causing numbness in his left leg. Meanwhile, two of Bermuda’s heroes from Saturday, Man of the Match Christopher Douglas and captain Stephen Outerbridge, sat out along with Lionel Cann in favor of Greg Maybury, Jason Anderson and Curt Stovell with Rodney Trott serving as the stand-in captain.

USA got off to a slow start initially with two wickets falling inside the first four overs. Akeem Dodson opened with Taylor but only lasted nine balls before he was caught for 4 flicking a full toss from the off-spin of Stovell to Tre Manders at deep square leg. Steve Massiah was caught behind for a golden duck after edging an attempted cut off Janeiro Tucker’s medium pace to make it back-to-back ducks against Bermuda for USA’s captain as the tourists slipped to 15 for 2.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor goes to sweep early in his innings of 97 vs. Bermuda. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Taylor was joined by Orlando Baker and the pair produced USA’s largest partnership of the tournament, 156 runs for the third wicket. Taylor had earlier offered a chance on 5 and produced another one on 9, both driving to the catching fielder at short extra cover, but Taylor moved on in quick fashion to punish Bermuda’s bowlers early and often through the off side. He brought up his 50 in 48 balls with his seventh boundary, smashed through the covers in the 18th over which ended with USA on 89 for 2. The partnership ended with Taylor one shot away from his second century of the tournament when he pushed Stovell softly to Rodney Trott at cover in the circle to make it 171 for 3 in the 32nd.

“Steven, he got to a brilliant start in this tournament, 160 [sic 162 vs. Nepal],” Kumaran said. “He hit every ball that was there for him to hit, but the wickets didn’t play well. He continued playing the same game but he didn’t adapt to the different wickets. So today I think, after we spoke to him so many times, today I think he adapted to the wicket. He settled himself in. He paced his innings beautifully. After the innings, I spoke with him. This is how most of your innings will be. One in ten will be the kind of 160 [sic 162] he scored against Nepal. So hopefully he learns from this experience and can give us a consistent run all the time.”

Timroy Allen entered at five as USA approached the batting power play looking for a boost, particularly with Marshall not in the lineup, but he only managed 4 when he was bowled by Treadwell Gibbons after missing a swipe across the line to make it 193 for 4 in the 37th. Baker was out in the following over for 72, giving a return catch to Stovell, but not before becoming the third batsman to pass 1,000 runs in 50-over cricket for USA.

Image (left) - Orlando Baker runs between the wickets for USA. On Sunday, Baker joined Steve Massiah and Sushil Nadkarni as the only three USA players to score 1000 runs in 50-over cricket. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Stovell claimed his fourth when Barrington Bartley was bowled for 1 to make it 199 for 6 in the 40th. USA managed to score just 12 runs for the loss of three wickets during their five-over batting power play between the 35th and 40th overs.

Elmore Hutchinson and Japen Patel got things back on track for USA with a 62-run partnership for the seventh wicket to take USA to a defendable total. It included 18 runs plundered off Tucker in the 48th over, including a six by Hutchinson over long off that nearly struck a man on a moped as he was driving out of the parking lot at the ground. Patel was dismissed with four balls to go in the innings for 34, slicing an edge to Jacobi Robinson at short third man for 34. Muhammad Ghous and Hutchinson each took a boundary and a single off the final four balls to take USA to their final total of 271 for 7. Stovell finished with 4 for 38 for Bermuda’s best figures on the day.

On Saturday, Douglas toyed with USA’s bowling unit while opening the innings for Bermuda but Stovell experienced something entirely different in his place at the top of the order, trapped LBW by Jamali on the first ball of the chase. His fellow opener Gibbons made 5 before he was bowled by Hutchinson going for a slog over midwicket to make it 22 for 2 in the sixth. Manders became the first scalp for Ghous on the day, edging to Massiah at slip for 18 to make it 44 for 3 in the 12th.

Bermuda had their first solid partnership of the day forged by Anderson and David Hemp as the two experienced batsmen added 57 for the fourth wicket. Hemp looked set for a long stay but he was bowled for 45 by Allen’s off-spin when he could not keep out a full length delivery to make it 101 for 4 in the 26th. Anderson went two overs later, caught for 30 by Dodson running out from behind the stumps after a bat pad chance ballooned into the air toward square leg.

Bermuda still had plenty of fight left though as Malachi Jones and Tucker added 61 for the sixth wicket in just 8.4 overs. Each man took on USA’s spinners, belting Allen and Bartley out of the attack before taking Hutchinson for 11 runs in the 36th over at the start of the power play. It was left to Ghous to break the stand, pinning Jones for 29 with a ball that kept low to make it 171 for 6 in the 37th. Ghous also claimed Tucker for 34 to end the 39th when the batsmen was bowled while backing away from the stumps trying to clear the off side field.

Hutchinson claimed Trott for 2 to make it 182 for 8 in the 40th. Yet Bermuda still refused to give in as Robinson entered at number nine and attacked Bartley for 18 in the 42nd. After being dropped off a skied chance to mid on earlier in the over, Robinson made USA pay with back-to-back sixes slogged over the leg side. His luck ran out when he gave Ghous the charge in the following over and was stumped for 31. The match ended in the 49th when Taylor’s off spin claimed Delray Rawlins LBW for 9 as Bermuda was bowled out for 241 in 48.4 overs. Ghous fell just short of his first five-wicket haul for USA at the senior level, taking 4 for 43 in his 10 overs to lead USA in the field.

In the 2013 WCL Division Three Championship match at the National Stadium in Hamilton, Nepal got revenge over Uganda in their rematch from the second day of the tournament, beating them by five wickets to claim the tournament title. Uganda won the toss and batted but could only muster 151 for 8 with Deusdedit Muhumuza’s 28 finishing as the top score. In response, Nepal tumbled to 30 for 3 but opener Pradeep Airee weathered the early storm to score 60 and put on 77 in partnership with Sharad Vesawkar for the fourth wicket. Vesawkar saw his side over the line with 50 not out as Nepal chased the target in 39.2 overs.

Oman ensured that Italy finished the tournament winless with a five-wicket win over the European side at Somerset Cricket Club in the fifth place playoff. Italy won the toss and batted first, posting 207. Captain Alessandro Bonora scored 42 while Oman speedster Munis Ansari took 4 for 72 and finished as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker after claiming 16 scalps in six matches. Oman completed their chase in 44.5 overs with Zeeshan Siddiqui making 64 to lead the way. Italy looked like they might pull off their first win with Oman at 148 for 5 in the 36th over, but Amir Ali and Sultan Ahmed added 60 in an unbeaten sixth wicket stand as Ali finished 42 not out in 39 balls.

Nepal and Uganda will now advance to the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand. USA’s next tour will take place in July when they head to Edmonton, Alberta for the 2013 Auty Cup. However, USA’s next 50-over tournament in ICC competition may not be until 2015 when the next Division Three is anticipated to take place.

USA Cricket: Bermuda stops USA from reaching 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier with stunning 5-wicket win

openingbat — Sun, 05 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Bermuda (on Twitter)

DreamCricket.com's coverage on site from Bermuda at 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three is sponsored by New Inning Foundation.

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

A stunning assault at the start of the second innings from Bermuda wicketkeeper Christopher Douglas was the catalyst for a major upset on Saturday as Bermuda beat USA in ICC tournament play for the first time since 2005, winning by five wickets with 5.2 overs to spare at the National Stadium on Saturday at 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Bermuda. Douglas was named Man of the Match after blindsiding USA with 89 off 75 balls, including a half-century off 25 balls to take Bermuda to 70 for 1 after eight overs chasing USA’s 220 for 9 and Bermuda never looked back on their way to victory.

The loss for USA denied them a spot in the top two at Division Three and along with it a berth in the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier as Nepal’s rapid 8-wicket chase over Italy at St. David’s Cricket Club took them level with USA and Bermuda on points and past USA on net run rate. Meanwhile the win for Bermuda meant they avoided relegation to Division Four after Oman beat Uganda by seven wickets at Somerset Cricket Club.

“The wicket was a little bit dicey when we batted,” USA coach Thiru Kumaran said after the game. “We thought it would be the same for them but I think it dried out a bit, got a little bit easier to bat. It was a good innings by their opener. I thought we had him caught behind but it was not given and also we dropped like four catches for him and those things made us lose the game.”

USA won the toss and batted first under clear skies but had to go into the match without Sushil Nadkarni, who missed the game with what was believed to be a pinched nerve that was causing numbness in his right leg. Akeem Dodson replaced him in the eleven and scored a half-century, but overall USA struggled without the presence of their vice-captain.

Steven Taylor’s rough tournament since the opening match against Nepal continued when he was dismissed in the third over by fast bowler Malachi Jones, caught at first slip by Janeiro Tucker for 9 to make it 13 for 1. Since Taylor’s 162 against Nepal on the opening day, he has scored 15 runs in four matches. USA captain Steve Massiah was the next victim claimed by Jones, gone for a 10-ball duck edging to Tucker in the slips to make it 20 for 2 in the seventh.

Dodson got off to a shaky start, dropped on 1 at slip by Jones off Tucker, and crawled to 2 off 31 balls as Tucker bowled four consecutive maidens in a disciplined opening spell while extracting sharp bounce off the pitch that troubled USA’s batsmen. Dodson was shepherded by Orlando Baker until the pair finally started ticking over the runs.

Image (right) - Akeem Dodson raises his bat after reaching 50 vs. Bermuda [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

They added 82 for the third wicket before Tucker came back for another spell and dismissed Baker for 27 as the batsman tried to sweep him and a top edge popped up for Douglas to claim. Dodson fell two balls after reaching his 50, lofting off-spinner Jacobi Robinson to Jones running to his right at long off to make it 108 for 4 in the 32nd.

USA’s plans at accelerating to a total in the 250 range were scrambled when Bartley and Marshall got into a mixup attempting a third run that resulted in Marshall being runout for 5. Marshall swept a full ball through fine leg for an easy two with Tre Manders needing to run a long way from deep square leg to cut the ball off. Bartley called late for a third run coming back to the striker’s end. Marshall did not look interested in the run but after seeing Bartley continue to charge in his direction, took off late for the opposite end. Manders relayed a throw to Hemp adjacent to the stumps at the striker’s end before Hemp fired a direct hit to the bowler’s end to find Marshall several yards short.

Bartley got out two overs into the batting power play for 21, caught behind trying to slog 15-year-old left-arm spinner Delray Rawlins to make it 140 for 6 in the 37th. Neil McGarrell and Timroy Allen added 36 across 8.3 overs for the seventh wicket before Allen got out trying to accelerate, caught at long on for 19 to make it 176 for 7 with 29 balls to go in the innings.

McGarrell was joined by Japen Patel and the pair put on 29 runs before McGarrell injured his right leg attempting a third run for Patel in the 49th over. McGarrell’s leg got stuck in the turf while turning for the run and his leg buckled, resulting in a lengthy delay on the field. When play eventually resumed, McGarrell stayed on the field and batted on one leg but the break seemed to stall USA’s momentum and cause a lapse in concentration as Patel sliced the next ball to point to go for 12. Hutchinson entered and was dismissed first ball in identical fashion to Patel off the bowling of Treadwell Gibbons to make it 206 for 9.

McGarrell was able to strike a four and a six in the last over to boost USA to their final total of 220. Jones finished with 3 for 48 for Bermuda while Tucker’s valuable spell resulted in 1 for 30. Rawlins also responded well to a pressure situation playing in his first game of the tournament and took 1 for 39 in his 10-over spell. USA’s total seemed like it would be enough to defend but their substandard fielding, which had been masked by big totals earlier in the tournament against Nepal and Italy, finally came back to haunt them at the worst possible time.

At St. David’s Cricket Club to the east of the island, Nepal had restricted Italy to 127 and with a quick chase on the horizon to improve their net run rate, it was clear USA needed a victory to finish in the top two. Yet, Bermuda sent USA a clear message that they would not be lying down to let their regional partner take a spot in the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier when Douglas blasted four boundaries in the second over off Hutchinson as part of a 20-run frame.

USA jabbed back in the sixth when Allen’s pace claimed Gibbons, caught by Patel running in from mid on for 4 to make it 43 for 1. Douglas came straight back in Allen’s next over with a series of body blows that floored USA, tearing into Allen for three boundaries and a pair of sixes to finish off the over, the second of which brought up his 50. By this point Nepal was wrapping up the chase against Italy in just 14.5 overs, putting them past USA on net run rate and leaving no doubt that if USA lost it would be Nepal joining Uganda at the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier.

The partnership between Douglas and Manders added 52 for Bermuda when Manders was caught by Massiah at slip off McGarrell for 13. The left-arm spinner produced a valiant all-round display and finished with 1 for 21 in his 10-over spell, but USA’s other bowlers failed to give him enough support.

Douglas tired himself out after his early onslaught and was begging to be dismissed as he offered the first of three chances off when on 64, dropped at slip by McGarrell off Ghous. His second chance was offered on 71 off McGarrell, put down by Taylor at long on after the fielder reacted slowly to the ball driven in the air toward him on the boundary. The third chance left on the table came when he was on 82 off Massiah, missed at extra cover by Marshall.

Douglas’ charmed stay finally came to an end in the 31st after a brilliant one-handed effort from Marshall at extra cover off Massiah to make it 139 for 3. With both teams under pressure, it looked like Bermuda might be starting to crack as Hemp ran himself out for 11 to end the 35th, making it 156 for 4.

However, USA’s fielding became more and more ragged as Bermuda stole single after single off them inside the 30-yard circle. Multiple run out chances were missed as USA failed to hit the stumps a single time down the stretch, whether the batsman had made his ground or not. The 41st over bowled by Massiah was the straw that broke the camel’s back for USA.

Bermuda entered the frame at 179 for 4 needing 42 in 10 overs to win. Allen missed a runout chance with Tucker on 15 by throwing to the wrong end on the first ball of the over, after which Massiah called the entire team in for a huddle for a last ditch motivational speech. It didn’t have the desired effect as Ghous dropped Tucker at point on 16 to end the over.

“You cannot drop five catches and expect to win in a tight game,” Kumaran said. “Today we dropped straightforward three or four catches and one maybe a 50/50 chance and there were so many runout opportunities we missed. I think basically you need to be on top of all departments to win a tight game. Today we were a little bit lacking in opening bowling, we didn’t get it right and then with the fielding and catching.”

Bartley conceded nine in the 42nd followed by another 14 given away by Massiah in the 43rd. Despite a brief hiccup with the dismissal of Stephen Outerbridge for 37, Bermuda cantered to victory with the winning run raised in the 45th over courtesy of a wide bowled by Taylor.

Image (above) - Nepal fans were waving the Bermuda flag and vice versa after Bermuda helped Nepal into the top two with a win over USA. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA and Bermuda will have a rematch on Sunday in the third place game at St. David’s Cricket Club while Uganda and Nepal will square off for the tournament title at the National Stadium in Hamilton. Oman and Italy, who have both been relegated to Division Four, will play in the fifth place playoff at Somerset Cricket Club. Live coverage sponsored by New Inning Foundation of USA’s final match against Bermuda begins at 10 a.m. in Bermuda, 9 a.m. EST on the east coast in America.

USA Cricket: Nadkarni's gritty 73 sets up Allen's 51* as USA beats Italy by 74 runs in Bermuda

openingbat — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:40:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Bermuda (on Twitter)

DreamCricket.com's coverage on site from Bermuda at 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three is sponsored by New Inning Foundation.

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

USA captain Steve Massiah and vice-captain Sushil Nadkarni grinded out a vital 78-run third wicket partnership that laid the platform for a late burst from Timroy Allen to give USA enough runs to defend as they defeated Italy by 74 runs on Monday at the National Stadium in Hamilton, Bermuda, at 2013 ICC WCL Division Three. Allen was named Man of the Match after notching 51 not out in 26 balls.

USA won the toss and elected to bat under a bright sun but as the players took the field, a large amount of cloud cover came over the ground producing ideal bowling conditions for Italy. Opening seamers Gayashan Munasinghe and Vince Pennazza removed USA’s openers within the first five overs as Orlando Baker was trapped LBW for 2 while Taylor was caught at mid off for 6 to make it 10 for 2.

Nadkarni then joined Massiah at the crease and the experience of the pair shone through in a determined stand. Massiah was on 10 off 24 balls at one point and Nadkarni 7 off 39 as they sought to leave and defend as many deliveries as possible under trying conditions. By the time Munasinghe and Pennazza had finished each of their opening 6-over spells, USA was at 31 for 2 after 12.

“It was tough,” Nadkarni said. “When I went in there I immediately realized for the fast bowlers it was doing something on the wicket and the conditions were not that great for some stroke-making immediately. So Steve and I decided to consolidate and build a partnership and Steve got going pretty quick after that and raced to his 50 so I think that was kind of the building blocks for us in this innings.”

Massiah broke free initially with three boundaries in the space of six deliveries to get USA some momentum. The first was courtesy of a misfield at point before Massiah elected to go the aerial route over mid off. The third boundary in the sequence was a wristy flick through mid on as USA began fighting back from the early trouble. The 50 partnership was brought up on the last ball of the 18th when Massiah drove medium pacer Dilan Fernando through the covers for Massiah’s sixth boundary and the third of three boundaries in the over for USA.

After surviving a missed run out chance on 41, Massiah brought up his 50 in 69 balls with a lofted drive straight down the ground off the left-arm spin of Damian Crowley in the 25th over. However, Massiah was unfortunately out three balls later for 51 when he played onto his stumps attempting to cut Crowley.

Image (right) - Sushil Nadkarni sets off for a run after punching one to the off side. Nadkarni top scored for USA with 73 vs. Italy. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Rashard Marshall arrived at the crease and with Nadkarni produced USA’s largest partnership of the match, 90 for the fourth wicket across 17.1 overs. Nadkarni brought up his 50 in 100 balls with a slog sweep over midwicket in the 37th over bowled by Carl Sandri and two overs later survived a point blank run out chance from five yards out when Munasinghe missed underhanding for the striker’s end stumps in his follow through. He was finally dismissed for 73 by Dilan Fernando after top edging a hook to third man to end the 42nd over with USA 178 for 4.

Allen arrived at the crease and wasted no time giving USA a late innings burst, getting off the mark on his second ball with a six over long on followed on the next delivery by a boundary swept over square leg off of Sandri. Marshall was out in the 45th to Munasinghe for 39, caught at extra cover mistiming a slower ball to make it 200 for 5. At the start of the 46th, Allen was put down on 15 after a straightforward chance at midwicket was grassed by Pennazza off Dilan Fernando.

Italy claimed Barrington Bartley for 1 just four balls later, but they would regret the missed chance off Allen as he punished them for another 36 runs in the final four overs. Munasinghe in particular felt the brunt of Allen with two sixes smashed off him in the 47th. Neil McGarrell was out on the first ball of the 48th to Dilan Fernando for 2, but Munasinghe’s figures took another beating in the 49th when Allen and Japen Patel each hit sixes off him in the frame.

Allen hit his fifth six off Dilan Fernando to begin the 50th over and a string of twos brought up his half-century with one ball remaining in the innings. Patel was run out on the final ball for 14 trying to stretch for another two for Allen and USA finished on 254 for 8, which turned out to be more than enough to defend. Dilan Fernando finished with 3 for 54 for Italy while Munasinghe finished with 2 for 52 despite bowling a testing six-over spell at the start in which he took 1 for 16.

Image (left) - Timroy Allen raises his bat after crossing 50 in the final over vs. Italy. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

For the second day in a row, Elmore Hutchinson made the early breakthroughs for USA with the new ball. The first to go for Italy was Damian Fernando, beaten for pace trying to pull the fast bowler and caught thanks to an outstanding diving catch from Muhammad Ghous running in from mid on for 11. Italy captain Alessandro Bonora came in next but didn’t last very long, caught behind by Taylor off Hutchinson for 6 to make it 38 for 2 after 8.

Peter Petricola joined opener Andy Northcote as Italy regained momentum with their two best batsmen at the crease. USA’s bowlers engineered multiple chances to dismiss them including a pair in the 18th off McGarrell when each batsmen was put down as Italy frustrated USA heading into the drinks break at 82 for 2. It took the intervention of Ghous to bring an end to their 57-run partnership when Petricola bottom edged a cut onto his stumps for 25 to make it 95 for 3 in the 23rd. Ghous struck again in his next over, darting in a fuller and flatter delivery to beat Northcote’s attempted paddle sweep and the opener walked off for 41 to make it 98 for 4.

“I think basically Ghous’ spell was the turning point for us in the game because he got the two key wickets,” Nadkarni said. “Ghous getting rid of both of them, it really opened the flood gates for us to come back into the game and win this game.”

Crowley and Sandri fought hard to keep Italy in the match with a 54-run stand, but as the run rate started to climb, Italy’s last recognized pair of batsmen started taking more risks which eventually led to their downfall. McGarrell returned for a second spell in the 38th and struck with his third ball, getting Crowley stumped for 37 after a premeditated charge down the track. Hutchinson removed Hayden Patrizi for 3, trapped in front by a perfectly placed yorker.

Dinidu Marage was the second batsman stumped for McGarrell for a third-ball duck in the 42nd over to make it 172 for 7 as Sandri rapidly began to run out of partners. Pennazza was run out five balls later without scoring when Marshall made an athletic diving stop at cover before throwing to Taylor over the stumps to finish the dismissal. Sandri was McGarrell’s third stumping victim for 41 at the start of the 46th over and the match wrapped up two balls later when Dilan Fernando drove McGarrell to Hutchinson at midwicket as Italy was bowled out for 180. McGarrell finished with USA’s best figures on the day taking 4 for 44 while Hutchinson claimed 3 for 44. Ghous’ pressure building spell resulted in 2 for 24.

In Monday’s other matches, Bermuda bounced back from a first-day defeat to beat Oman by 34 runs at St. David’s CC. Bermuda slumped to 117 for 7 but some very valuable lower order partnerships took them to 194 before they were bowled out in 44.1 overs. Treadwell Gibbons propped up Bermuda with 33 at number eight before being last man out. Oman experienced a similar slide falling to 106 for 8 before Hemal Mehta and Amir Ali added 42 for the ninth wicket to keep Omani hopes alive. Bermuda eventually dismissed them for 160 in 41.5 overs with Malachi Jones taking 3 for 29. Number eight Amir Ali finished unbeaten on 58 after taking 3 for 34 in the first innings.

Nepal’s shocking start to the tournament continued with a six-wicket defeat at the hands of Uganda, who sit at the top of the standings with USA at 2-0. On the same Somerset CC ground where they played USA, Nepal won the toss and batted first but wound up being bowled out for 116 in 44.2 overs. Roger Mukasa led Uganda’s swift chase with 49 not out as they reached the target in 27 overs.

After a day off on Tuesday, USA returns to action on Wednesday against Oman at Somerset CC. DreamCricket.com’s live coverage, sponsored by New Inning Foundation, begins at 10 a.m. local time, 9 a.m. on the east coast in the USA.

USA Cricket: Taylor's 162 paves way for 94-run win over Nepal at 2013 ICC WCL Division Three

openingbat — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:35:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Bermuda (on Twitter)

DreamCricket.com's coverage on site from Bermuda at 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three is sponsored by New Inning Foundation.

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

Teenage wicketkeeper-batsman Steven Taylor’s sterling knock of 162 in 102 balls opening the innings set the tone for the rest of the match as USA’s total of 366 for 6 was more than enough to defend on the way to a 92-run win over Nepal at Somerset Cricket Club on Sunday at the 2013 ICC WCL Division Three tournament in Bermuda. Taylor was named Man of the Match and made Nepal pay dearly for sending USA in to bat after winning the toss on a pristine batting surface.

“When Steve [Massiah] came back and told us we were batting first I assumed we had won the toss,” USA vice-captain Sushil Nadkarni said after the game. “But he told us that Nepal had put us in and I was a little surprised to hear that. We were looking to bat first anyways. The only reason I can think of is maybe the ground as we know is a little small and you never know what total might be enough here.”

“Because the size of the ground, it’s a 50 yard ground, you just didn’t know what total was good enough on this ground,” Nepal captain Paras Khadka said. “So looking at the size of the ground, that made us field first because 50 yard boundaries you really didn’t know what would be a good score so that’s the reason why we fielded first.”

Before play began, the USA squad met with the US Consul General to Bermuda, Robert Settje, and his wife who were attending their very first cricket match. The two teams then held a minute of silence before taking the field at the request of the USA national team for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15. USA also wore black pins on their shirt sleeves in remembrance of the victims.

Orlando Baker opened the batting with Taylor and the pair established a new record stand for any wicket for USA against Nepal with a 125-run partnership across 17.2 overs. The previous best was an 89-run fourth wicket stand between Sushil Nadkarni and Steve Massiah last September at ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia. Baker did an excellent job of blunting the new ball, hitting only three scoring shots in the first 24 deliveries he faced as he and Taylor coasted to 28 after seven overs. It was in the eighth over that USA exploded for 18 runs and from then on rarely took their foot off the gas pedal. Taylor started off the frame against Sanjam Regmi with a six over extra cover followed by a three that included a pair of overthrows. Baker then struck back-to-back fours as USA’s bench came alive sensing they were gaining momentum.

Image (above) - Steven Taylor completes a square drive during his knock of 162 against Nepal at Somerset CC in Bermuda. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Taylor brought up his 50 in just 32 balls with his fourth six, struck straight down the ground off Sanjam Regmi, who went for 53 in his first five overs. The pair brought up USA’s 100 in the 16th over when Taylor cut Basant Regmi through point and then immediately followed the milestone with a six over cover. Baker got out eight balls after the first drinks break when he tried to flick Basant across the line and was bowled for 37.

Massiah joined Taylor and the USA captain was at the crease when Taylor brought up triple figures in the 23rd over off just 61 balls with his seventh four through the covers to go along with eight sixes at that stage. The pair added 31 for the second wicket before Massiah was run out for 11. The USA captain cut a ball to Amrit Bhattarai at point off Basant Regmi that was misfielded and Taylor attempted a run. Bhattarai recovered and threw to Basant, who initially dislodged the bails at the non-striker’s end without the ball in his hand. With both batsmen at the striker’s end, Massiah chose to sacrifice himself ahead of Basant pulling a stump out of the ground with the ball pressed against it to complete the run out.

Nadkarni and Taylor got things moving quickly again and after 30 overs, the score was 211 for 2 as USA sensed a chance to potentially break their all-time best score in limited overs cricket set against East & Central Africa at the 1990 ICC Trophy with a score of 404 for 9. Nadkarni’s USA record of 197 was also in danger of going down as Taylor brought up his 150 with his 10th boundary to end the 32nd. He was finally dismissed two balls into the 35th over by Sanjam Regmi, caught at point by Basant to make it 234 for 3.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor raises his bat after reached his century off 61 balls. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA went through an extended sputter for the next six overs as three more wickets fell to give Nepal some hope that they might restrict USA to under 300. Rashard Marshall fell for 5, caught behind off Basant to make it 243 for 4. Barrington Bartley was bowled slogging across the line for 13 to make it 270 for 5 in the 40th. Nadkarni fell three balls later at the start of the 41st, given LBW for 28 to a ball that kept low from Bhattarai to make it 273 for 6.

Nepal couldn’t sustain the pressure though as Timroy Allen and Neil McGarrell produced a 93-run unbroken seventh wicket stand to erase all doubts about whether or not Nepal would have a chance in the second innings. Allen was particularly brutal to the Nepal attack, finishing with 67 not out off 34 balls. The pair scored 19 in the 45th over and then Allen capped off the innings by taking 21 off Bhattarai in the 50th including pairs of fours and sixes.

Basant Regmi was the only bowler to come away from the innings with his reputation still intact, taking 2 for 46 in 10. Shakti Gauchan took the brunt of USA’s batting assault as the usually economical left-arm spinner went for nine per over, finishing with 1 for 81 in nine.

“We still thought that anything like 300 to 320 or 330 was chaseable,” Khadka said. “Maybe we gave 40-50 runs extra. We believed that if it was 320-330, we believed that we would have chased that down. Unfortunately, even in the end we didn’t bowl well in the last five overs so that took the game away and Taylor played exceptionally well. When a guy gets 162 in a 50-over game you can’t do many things.”

In the field, it was Elmore Hutchinson who took the new ball and put pressure immediately onto Nepal’s batsmen, beginning with a wicket maiden in the second over that claimed Anil Mandal for a duck. In the eighth over, he bounced out Khakurel for 23 as a top edged hook came down into Taylor’s hands to make it 29 for 2.

Nepal’s best chance at coming close to chasing down the target was a lengthy partnership between Gyanendra Malla and Khadka. However, Malla was run out for 9 to start the 13th over when Khadka failed to respond to a call for a run to short fine leg. Hutchinson fielded and threw to Baker over the non-striker’s stumps before Malla could get back as Nepal slipped to 56 for 3.

Khadka did his best to make amends by top scoring with 73 off 64 balls but the first innings hole was too big to dig his side out of. Binod Bhandari was the next man out for 4, bowled by McGarrell trying to play a Dilscoop. Pradeep Airee was dropped two balls later on zero by Taylor behind the stumps, but McGarrell was still able to claim him for 14, trapped LBW to make it 106 for 5 in the 24th.

Bartley’s five-over spell was an expensive one, claiming 47 runs, but he notched the prize wicket of Khadka, caught behind trying to cut a ball that had a little extra bounce to make it 175 for 6 in the 32nd. Muhammad Ghous was finally rewarded with his first wicket in the 37th. Ghous dismissed Basant Regmi, caught at midwicket by Massiah for 7, before he removed Vesawkar for 72 to make it 228 for 8.

A small consolation for Nepal was a 44-run ninth wicket stand between Gauchan and Sanjam Regmi which may become important later in the week should Nepal finish tied with any other team for one of the top two spots as net run rate will be the tiebreaker. The stand was finally broken when Sanjam was runout four balls into the final over for 14. Gauchan fell one ball later for 39 thanks to a diving catch by Baker off McGarrell as Nepal was bowled out for 272.

Ghous bowled a superb spell, conceding 19 runs in his final eight overs to finish with 2 for 36 in 10. Hutchinson eventually finished with 2 for 25 after his first five-over spell went for just 10 runs while McGarrell had USA’s best haul on the day with 3 for 42 in 9.5 overs.

In the day’s other matches, Oman bowled out Italy for 110 in 38.2 overs before chasing the total with 20.5 overs to spare for the loss of three wickets at St. David’s CC. Left-arm orthodox spinner Aamir Kaleem was named Man of the Match after taking 4 for 15 in his eight-over spell to wipe out Italy’s middle order. Uganda beat the host side Bermuda by 114 runs at the National Stadium in Hamilton. Opener Arthur Kyobe was named Man of the Match for Uganda after top scoring with 53 in Uganda’s total of 222 for 7. Teenage left-arm spinner Henry Ssenyondo claimed 4 for 24 to lead the Uganda bowling unit as Bermuda collapsed from 72 for 3 in 26 overs to be all out for 108 in 43.3 overs.

On Monday, USA plays Italy at the National Stadium in Hamilton. Game time is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. local time, 9:30 a.m. on the east coast in the USA. DreamCricket.com will have live updates sponsored by New Inning Foundation beginning at 10 a.m. local time.

USA Cricket: USACA announces 14-man squad for 2013 ICC WCL Division Three

openingbat — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 20:35:00 GMT

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

USACA Media Release

The United States Cricket Association (USACA) today announced the National Men’s Squad to compete in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Tournament. This competition is a qualification structure for the 2015 ICC 50 Over Cricket World Cup. Currently the USA team are in Division 3 of the WCL and determined to progress to the next phase of qualification in its upcoming tournament in Bermuda from April 28th – May 5th, 2013.

The US squad has been competing in a series of 50 over practice matches against Bermuda at the Lauderhill Stadium in Fort Lauderdale and trialed 21 players from all across the US and one player from Queensland in Australia. The group performed well winning two of the three matches gaining valuable match practice. The practice series also allowed USACA National Selectors to be able to view the players in competition mode and to select the final squad of 14. The final squad to represent the USA is;

Steven Taylor

Sushil Nadkarni

Steve Massiah

Rashard Marshall

Naseer Jamali

Japen Patel

Akeem Dodson

Timroy Allen

Orlando Baker

Barrington Bartley

Neil McGarrell

Danial Ahmed

Muhammad Ghous

Elmore Hutchinson

Team USA will be coached by Kumaran Thirunavukkarasu and will depart for Bermuda on April 25th. The US team will be led by season campaigner captained by Steve Messiah [sic] with Sushil Nadkarni vice-captain.

USACA National Chairman of Selectors Mr. Selwyn Caesar said, “Due to the importance of the ICC tournament in Bermuda, the National selectors wanted to ensure that the selection process was thorough and that players from all over America were given every opportunity to impress. I am delighted that USACA supported our request and provided 21 players with the opportunity to stake their claim to represent their country. The result is that we have a very well balanced team that is capable of winning in Bermuda and advancing to the next stage. I wish them well and know that they will give a good account of themselves”.

The other participating countries in the tournament are Bermuda, Oman, Italy, Nepal and Uganda. This is an extremely important tournament for US cricket as the top 2 teams from Bermuda will move up to WCL Division 2 and automatically qualify for ICC Global World Cup Qualifier to be held in New Zealand in 2014.

USA Cricket: Baker looks forward to captaincy challenge at 2013 ICC Americas Division One T20

openingbat — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:44:00 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)

Veteran allrounder Orlando Baker says he’s ready for the opportunity to captain a young USA side at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament, which begins next Monday in Lauderhill, Florida at the Central Broward Regional Park. USA kicks off the tournament against Suriname at 10 a.m. on March 18 and Baker says he’s ready to take on more responsibility, not just as a captain but by bringing his talents to the fore with bat and ball as well.

“It’s a good feeling. It’s always a pleasure when you’re captaining your country so it’s an honor,” Baker told DreamCricket.com. “I’m looking forward to leading from the front. I’ve been around for a while now and I know a lot rests on my shoulders. I’m looking forward to take this opportunity to really showcase my talent and show what I can do. It’s always a challenge but I’m just going to go ahead and put my right foot forward and keep working hard.”

Image (right) - In 2010, Orlando Baker combined with Aditya Thyagarajan to produce the highest partnership for USA in Twenty20 matches, an unbroken 99-run stand for the seventh wicket against Ireland in Abu Dhabi. [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia/USACA]

Baker previously captained USA in 2008 at the West Indies Cricket Board Cup 50-over tournament in Guyana. USA failed to win a game in that event, but the tournament provided opportunities for non-first choice players to get exposure such as Timroy Allen who made his USA debut against Barbados and took 1 for 26 in eight overs. Baker says he wants the players to enjoy themselves on the field and not feel pressure but at the same time they’ll need to adjust quickly to the demands of an ICC qualifying tournament that features eight games in seven days for USA.

“As you know, Twenty20 cricket is not a game that you have too much time,” Baker said. “I think new guys who are coming in, they have to learn pretty fast. There’s a few senior players – myself, Elmore [Hutchinson], [Barrington] Bartley comes back into the team – and then you have Ryan Corns there, Japen Patel, guys who have been around. I think myself and those guys have to really carry the bulk of the work in this tournament. A lot is gonna depend on me as a senior player and the captain but maybe one or two guys will rise to the occasion.”

With several first choice players missing out on this tournament in order to have enough time off work for 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three next month in Bermuda, USA’s Twenty20 squad includes a few fresh faces competing in an ICC tourney for the first time and one in which their endurance and conditioning will be severely tested. The top two teams out of Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Suriname and USA will advance to the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE. Only six out of this 14-man squad were part of the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier squad that played a grueling nine matches in 11 days in the UAE.

The fast bowling department looks particularly thin for USA without Allen and Usman Shuja. With only 14 caps, Hutchinson is the senior fast bowler in the squad and as a result, fellow left-arm seamer Naseer Jamali is expected to get plenty of opportunities after debuting in The Auty Cup last November. However, there are no specialist pacemen besides them in a spin heavy bowling unit.

On the batting side, Steven Taylor is the only man in the squad who has been a significant contributor with the bat over the past year and the absence of Sushil Nadkarni, USA’s leading scorer from 2012, creates a big hole to fill. Rather than be worried about the overall inexperience, Baker says this is a chance for younger players to push for a regular spot and increase the level of competition within the national team.

Image (left) - Steven Taylor will be looking for a good foil at the top of the order in the absence of Sushil Nadkarni. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

“There’s a lot of guys there,” Baker said. “You can’t really say someone will fill Sushil’s role. It’s just that somebody has to open with Steven. There’s a lot of guys, Timmy [Surujbally] who has come in as an opener. You have Ryan [Corns] who has batted up the order for the US before. You have young [Nicholas] Standford, even myself. When we get to Florida with Robin [Singh] the coach and the management staff, I think we’ll get to that point when we get there.”

“I’m not worried about the depth,” Baker said. “I think guys have been waiting for the opportunity. I’m looking forward to guys standing up and try and grab the opportunity, try and push the players in the squad for Bermuda. That’s the challenge these guys have ahead. They have to come here and perform. They’ve been given a chance. A lot of people have been calling for younger guys in the US team. You look at this team and it’s a really young team. This is their chance and they have the opportunity to showcase themselves and push their claims.”

The format of the ICC Americas tournament was a single round-robin event in 2011, but that has been revised in the region as a result of Canada not participating in this year’s tournament due to automatic qualification for the World Twenty20 Qualifier after a top-six finish in the same event last year. Instead of a six-team ICC Americas event with everyone playing each other once across six days, this year will see five teams all playing each other twice for a total of eight matches per team crammed into seven days. Although it will be taxing, Baker says there is a silver lining with more players getting more chances to show their stuff on the field and have as much time as possible out in the middle.

“It’s gonna be really tough. There’s going to be a lot of cricket. I think the players themselves have gotta take care of themselves,” Baker said. “If you look back at the [2012] tournament in Dubai, it was really tough. We’ve been getting a program. Robin sent out a program over the last couple of months for guys to be working on physically so I’m expecting everyone to be ready come March 17. I welcome the opportunity. It’s a challenge but I welcome the opportunity to play more games. At least you get to see more players. Players get more opportunities so I welcome the challenge. It’ll be tough but as I said if each individual player is following the training program, the physical program, they should be ready come March 17.”

“I’m not feeling pressure. I’ve played a lot of cricket over the years for the US and outside of the US before I became a member of the team. I’m just looking forward to the challenge. I like challenges. It’s something that I always look up to. I think when I have challenges, that’s when I get the best out of me. I’m looking forward to it. I’m not worried about pressure or worried about senior guys who aren’t there because at the end of the day we all have to perform.”

DreamCricket.com will have live coverage for all of USA’s matches at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament beginning with the opening contest on Monday, March 18 against Suriname. Coverage begins at 9:30 a.m. EST with the first ball scheduled to be sent down at 10 a.m.

USA Cricket: 2012 ICC WCL Division Four Report Card Part 3 -Outlook for 2013 ICC WCL Division Three

openingbat — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 09:56:00 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)

Click here for Part 1 - Team Grades

Click here for Part 2 - Player Grades

Outlook for 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three

Find a committed coach for USA

Next year’s ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda is scheduled for April 28-May 5, right smack in the middle of the IPL. This means that Robin Singh will not be available, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Despite being paid a fee rumored to be five figures per tournament to chaperone USA’s players, the results have been mostly unconvincing for Singh in his efforts at women’s, junior and senior level for USA. Most alarmingly, USA’s fielding has been dreadful at all three levels when he has been in charge despite a reputation staked as a player on fielding excellence.

Outside of a handful of days spent with the USA U-19 team in Florida in February and July 2011, Singh has not spent any time on U.S. soil doing any sort of coaching with USA’s teams. For Division Four, he flew into Malaysia the night before the first match and somehow thought all he had to do was snap his fingers to make magic happen. If Singh doesn’t fly into the Mumbai Indians camp on the night before their first match in the IPL to begin coaching them, why should it be acceptable for him to do the same for the USA and expect the team to respond positively?

Image (right) - Robin Singh most likely will not be around to coach USA at 2013 ICC WCL Division Three due to IPL commitments, not that it will adversely affect USA on the field. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Former USA coach Clayton Lambert may not have been the best tactician, but he knew the strengths, weaknesses and capabilities of all the players he went on tour with because he spent considerable time around the USA at tournaments and training/selection camps to get familiar with the players he’d be working with on tour in order to strategize the best possible batting lineups and bowling combinations. Singh has not devoted any time in the USA to get familiar with USA’s senior players and it is clear that it has negatively impacted the team based on the disjointed results USA has had under his stewardship.

Speaking on behalf of the team, vice-captain Sushil Nadkarni said that USA approached the final match against Nepal by picking what was felt to be the lineup that gave USA the best chance at winning that day rather than giving younger players an opportunity to gain experience against Nepal’s bowling attack in a match where promotion and relegation wasn’t at stake. If USA was honestly going all out for a win that day, there is no reasonable explanation for why Abhimanyu Rajp batted at number three other than to say that the man in charge of setting the batting order, Singh, didn’t have a solid grasp on the strengths and weaknesses of the players who were a part of USA’s squad on tour.

Shifting Timroy Allen up, down and around the batting order cost the team badly in the first game against Nepal. Shifting Aditya Thyagarajan, Aditya Mishra and Orlando Baker all over the place also worked to unsettle and undermine their considerable talents. Players must have defined roles throughout the tournament so they can tailor their games to maximize their output for the team.

USA needs to find a coach, whether currently in the USA or abroad, who is willing to work with the players locally in the USA in camps ahead of Division Three in order to form better plans and figure out the best combinations before the first game begins on April 28, not in the middle of the tournament as was the case at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE and at times during 2012 ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia. Asif Mujtaba and Kumaran Thiru, who served separately as assistant coaches for USA in the UAE and Malaysia respectively during USA's two overseas tours this year, are both based in Texas and appear to be qualified coaching candidates with international cricket experience who would be useful if given an opportunity to assume the head coach role for USA.

Better individual accountability for fitness

USA’s players may struggle from tournament to tournament with team chemistry because the players do not play with each other year-round, but there is no excuse for players to show up unfit because they haven’t been playing with other national team players year-round. Fitness is an individual responsibility. Players in California are not responsible for running sprints on behalf of players in Texas or New York and vice versa.

Other teams at the Associate level face the same struggles that USA’s players do as amateurs in terms of getting enough time away from work to dedicate to their games. However, USA’s Associate level opponents are almost always head and shoulders above USA when it comes to their fitness levels despite being fellow amateurs. The fact that this tournament was played during the USA season means that not only were the majority of USA’s players unfit when they showed up for national team duty, it’s highly probable that they are unfit for club cricket duty on a weekly basis as well.

Instead of being the number one priority for USA’s players, it appears that for many of them fitness is something that is addressed if they get around to it. USA may have gotten away with substandard in Division Four, but that will not be the case in Division Three. Anyone who doubts this only needs to check the DreamCricket.com Report Card for 2010 ICC WCL Division Three. USA’s overall fitness contributed heavily to their downfall in the round-robin match against Denmark in Hong Kong and consequently led to them getting relegated.

Image (right) - Sushil Nadkarni's fitness on tour in Malaysia was top notch, but the rest of his teammates need to pick up the slack or else finishing in the top two for Division Three in Bermuda may be difficult. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA went 3-0 on the first day of back-to-back matches in Malaysia and 0-3 on the second day. A similar effort in Bermuda will definitely put USA behind Nepal and most likely put USA behind Italy as well to finish in third place and short of the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand. Quite simply, if USA puts in a similar effort in Bermuda to the one they produced in Malaysia, both individually and as a team, they will finish out of the top two and the consequences will be severe.

An eye to the future

Attempting to qualify for the 2015 ICC World Cup may be the last hurrah for many of USA’s players. Finishing in the top two in Bermuda and then the top two again at the ICC World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand would be a massive achievement and result in clinching a spot at the 2015 ICC World Cup. However, even finishing in the top six at the qualifier would be huge because it would mean that USA would be able to participate in the next cycle of the ICC Intercontinental Cup.

Being in the Intercontinental Cup would not only provide increased funding from the ICC, but would present tremendously valuable opportunities for some of USA’s younger players to gain experience and develop their skills in multi-day cricket on turf wickets against other top-tier Associates without the pressure of promotion and relegation being at stake. Having a bigger and more consistent schedule of matches for USA’s players to participate in might also open the door for several players to be given central contracts for the first time, a major step toward professionalizing the game in the USA.

Conversely, if USA does not achieve these things and with participation virtually non-existent for Associates in a 10-team 2019 ICC World Cup, it is conceivable that many of USA’s senior players would step aside if they failed to reach the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier and/or the 2015 ICC World Cup in order to allow a younger nucleus to form and focus on qualification for the next several ICC World Twenty20 events which are due to have 16 teams in 2014 and 2016.

USA Cricket: 2012 ICC WCL Division Four Report Card Part 2 - Player Grades

openingbat — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:35:00 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)

Click here for Part 1 - Team Grades

Player Grades

Sushil Nadkarni – A-: USA’s vice-captain finished as the leading scorer at the tournament with 238 runs at 47.60 and two half-centuries. His century stand with Steven Taylor to open the tournament against the host side set the tone for a solid event. He top scored for USA in three of the five games he played. His highest score, and the highest score at the event by a USA player, was his 84 in the group game against Nepal. If he had been able to bat to the end to score a century and take the team to victory, it would have been perhaps his greatest knock in a USA uniform, but he fell just short thanks to a spectacular catch by Binod Das at backward point.

Nadkarni’s fitness has waxed and waned over the last couple of years depending on the tournament. It was definitely waxing at this event where he looked much slimmer than he was at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in March. Nadkarni and Timroy Allen were the only USA players who never looked tired while at the crease. He was a spritely fielder inside the circle as well, regularly flinging his body along the turf to save runs.

Image (right) - Sushil Nadkarni completes a cut shot against Malaysia. Nadkarni finished as USA's leading scorer for the second tour in a row. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Steven Taylor – B+: The youngest player in the squad may have taken over the mantle from Nadkarni as USA’s most intimidating batsman during this tournament. He finished second overall in the runs list behind Nadkarni with 216 at an average of 36.00 and a strike rate of 104.85. He scored half-centuries against Malaysia and Singapore. The only game he really failed to get going was in the final match against Nepal where he made just 11.

While he had several explosive starts, Taylor somehow managed to get out just when he appeared set to destroy the opposition. He looked tired toward the end of the tournament, particularly in the ways he got out against Nepal so fitness may be something he should focus on, particularly if he is committed to keeping wicket. He finished with six catches and a stumping, but also missed two stumping chances.

Steve Massiah – C-: The reinstalled captain struggled to get going on a day when batting looked easy for everyone else against Malaysia, then looked even more out of sorts against spin versus Denmark. He made his highest score of the tournament against Nepal with 41 coming in at number five, but the batting order was mangled for that match to accommodate him after his early troubles against spin. USA wound up paying for it by the end of the match despite an 89-run stand between him and Nadkarni that put the team on the brink of victory. He finished as USA’s fourth highest scorer on the week with 121 runs at 24.20, but generally did less with more opportunities at his disposal than other batsmen.

In the past, Massiah has typically been one of USA’s most reliable fielders, both on the ground and in the catching department. At this tournament though, he looked a step behind, grassing three catches against Nepal and missing a golden opportunity for a run out early against Denmark. He was also responsible for a slow over rate against Denmark that prevented USA from using some of their more desired options later in the innings though he did well leading the side during a hectic second innings against Singapore by going to spin within a few overs after play resumed following a rain delay.

Aditya Thyagarajan – C-: USA’s leading scorer in 2010 had a lukewarm return from injury at this tournament. He top scored in the team’s warm-up match win over Denmark with 48 coming in at number four, but then managed just 35 runs in four innings during the live matches. He didn’t seem to respond well after being shuffled around the batting order to accommodate others, batting at three different positions for his four innings.

Image (left) - Aditya Thyagarajan in action against Denmark at the Selangor Turf Club. Thyagarajan had a rough return to the national team after missing more than a year due to injury, making 35 runs in four innings. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

He played for the team against Malaysia, going to slog after entering with six overs to go and wound up getting out for 2. He failed against Denmark, then got out cheaply again in a situation that appeared tailor-made for him with 10 overs to go against Nepal. His 21 against Singapore might not look special on paper, but it was part of a vital 59-run stand, providing the anchor at one end to allow Allen to swing away at the other. Thyagarajan also gets credit for his fielding. In a team full of butterfingers, he held on to three solid catches running in from the boundary and never dropped a chance.

Aditya Mishra – C-: Mishra was one of USA’s best batsmen in March at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, but overall in this event he was inconsistent and mixed two decent innings with two failures. He provided a solid late boost against Malaysia scoring 25 off 14 balls and along with Taylor tried to score as quickly as possible against Tanzania to lift the team’s net run rate, which made a huge difference by the end of the tournament. He had two sloppy failures against Denmark and Nepal in the group stage and then threw away his wicket in the final against Nepal after getting a decent start. He’s a batsman who can be classified as a team player after being rotated into three different batting positions to suit the needs of the team, although it wasn’t always to great effect for him personally.

A greater cause for concern for him is his fielding. Along the ground he is okay and generally puts in some good efforts to slide or dive to save balls from going over the boundary. In the air though, he is poor at judging the flight of the ball coming off the bat and it leads to bad mistakes, such as when he ran in from the rope against Nepal for a chance against Paras Khadka only to see the ball go over his head before landing inside the rope and bouncing over for a boundary.

Orlando Baker – C: Someone who didn’t do a lot wrong, but didn’t set the world on fire either on this tour. Baker stabilized USA with help from Allen against Denmark after a middle order collapse, but the pair never got a proper chance to bring USA completely back into the contest once rain intervened. He failed after being thrust into the opening slot against Nepal in the group game and then was somewhat harshly dropped for it. Recalled for the final against Nepal, he showed that he still has some gas left in the tank by grinding out 39 to top score with Nadkarni in the defeat. He finished with 66 runs at an average of 33.00 on tour, USA’s fourth best average in Malaysia.

With the ball, he wasn’t used that much, but took three wickets in 15 overs, a strike rate that other players in the squad would have gladly traded for. He dropped two chances that came his way, a sharp one at square leg against Nepal and a reflex return chance against Malaysia. He also missed a chance to run out Subash Khakurel on 99 in the group game against Nepal and fluffed a stumping late in the final against Nepal after putting on the pads to relieve Taylor. The four misses by Baker summed up a forgettable tour in the fielding department for USA overall. However, the fact that Baker is willing to keep wicket if called upon in an emergency shows his unselfishness for the team.

Timroy Allen – A-: USA’s most dynamic player, Allen showed how much USA missed him last year in Hong Kong and again in the UAE in March. Came in with 15 overs to go against Malaysia and produced his best score in a USA uniform, 72 not out in 43 balls on his way to claiming the first of two Man of the Match awards in Malaysia. Allen topped the averages for USA in the event with 166 runs at 55.33. Had he come in at number seven with 11 overs to go against Nepal instead of number three in the fifth over of the chase during their group game, USA would have had a much better chance of winning that game.

Image (right) - Timroy Allen poses with his Man of the Match award after USA's win over Singapore that clinched a spot in next year's ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

In addition to topping the batting averages for USA, Allen took the most wickets with 10 at an average of 19.80, although he was slightly expensive going at more than five runs per over. Allen also had more chances put down off his bowling than anyone else. USA’s fielders dropped six chances off him and that had an effect on his numbers across the board. In the field, he’s not as energetic as he used to be. He took one catch and put down a sharp one at gully in this tournament. In general he looks more reserved when it comes to throwing his body around, mindful of how he aggravated a back injury in Italy two years ago while diving to stop a boundary in a 10-wicket win over Tanzania.

Ryan Corns – C: When given an opportunity, Corns responded quite well. His stats might not say so, but he was a valuable niche player on tour and has plenty of room to grow into a position where he can be a solid all-rounder for USA in the future. Selecting him as the lone left-arm spin option ahead of Asif Khan was a bold move as Khan is a better pure spinner, but Corns justified the move with some handy performances and the tour did a lot for his continued development.

Batting wise, Corns did about as well as could be expected when thrust into a role he is not suited for, coming in late in the innings to slog quick runs batting at number eight. He finished with 45 runs in three innings at an average of 15.00, his best contribution coming against Singapore with 24 in a tight match. Fielding wise, he needs to work on his throwing accuracy. He is very energetic fielding at point, but dropped a chance and missed two run out opportunities, including a crucial one against Nepal when Subash Khakurel was on 22, before finally converting one against Singapore.

Elmore Hutchinson – B-: Quietly was one of USA’s better bowlers on tour. Hutchinson had the best economy rate for any of USA’s pace bowlers at 3.90 in 40 overs, the second most overs bowled by USA behind Muhammad Ghous. He sometimes had trouble locating his line though, bowling a team-high 14 wide deliveries that went for 19 wide runs out of the 62 wide runs USA conceded. He finished with six wickets, tied with Ghous and Shuja for second on the team.

With the bat, he had USA’s sixth best average on tour, 17.66. Hutchinson scored 53 runs in four innings and was used as a pinch hitter against Tanzania, coming in at three to slog some runs when USA was looking to boost their net run rate. He showed good athleticism overall in the field and despite only taking one catch, never grassed any and always showed tremendous effort and hustle to save balls from going over the boundary.

Image (left) - Elmore Hutchinson bowling against Nepal at Kinrara Academy Oval. Hutchinson was one of USA's better bowlers in Malaysia and finished with the second best economy rate on the team behind Muhammad Ghous. [Courtesy: ICC/Peter Lim]

Abhimanyu Rajp – C-: Rajp was dropped after three games, which may have mystified many back home as he was USA’s second best wicket-taker at the time behind Allen, but his economy rate was frightfully high for a finger-spinner. Rajp shined at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier because it’s a format where a bowler can get away with trading off runs for wickets. A 7.55 economy rate in that event looked okay next to 10 wickets, which was good enough to tie for the team lead. However, a 5.73 economy rate standing next to five wickets in Malaysia was not good enough. Rajp has a learning curve to adjust to in 50-over cricket. He must strike a balance between being economical and attacking for wickets.

With the bat, he was bizarrely asked to bat at number three in the final against Nepal in his only appearance at the crease and didn’t score. Fielding wise, teams aren’t afraid to take him on in the circle and he missed a critical run out chance against Andreas Lambert of Denmark, but in the air he is one of USA’s sure-handed fielders. He got official credit for two catches but also took two other very crucial ones as a sub fielder in a tense battle against Singapore.

Usman Shuja – C: Shuja was named Man of the Match in an easy win over Tanzania after taking 3 for 14. Overall though, he was very average. In the other four games he played against Singapore, Denmark and twice against Nepal, he took just 3 wickets for 116 runs. While he was economical against Denmark, he struggled to make the most of the new ball when conditions were in his favor in that match, taking 1 for 20 in seven overs. Entering the tournament, he had a phenomenal record against Nepal with 14 wickets in six games at an average of 11.86 and an economy rate of 3.25. In the two matches USA played against Nepal in Malaysia, Shuja finished with 1 for 75 in 12 overs.

Shuja had multiple chances dropped off his bowling in the group game against Nepal, but in general was just not as effective as he usually is. His batting has also been marginalized by the current management. This is the same player who rescued USA from 20 for 7 against Oman and took them to a remarkable two-wicket win at Division Three in Hong Kong last year by scoring 43 not out. He is good enough to bat at number eight, definitely no lower than nine but he was sent in at numbers 10 and 11 in this tournament and responded by batting down to that level, scoring 4 runs in three innings.

Muhammad Ghous – B: After going through a sophomore slump in 2011, Ghous has bounced back during his third year with the senior team to be a dependable performer. He had the best economy rate for the team on tour with 3.62 runs per over in a team high 48.3 overs. He can sometimes look lethargic when not a lot is at stake, but put Ghous in a pressure-packed situation and he is very hard to rattle. He was chiefly responsible for the shift in momentum during the second innings against Singapore. After batsman Chetan Suryawanshi flew out of the gate following the rain delay, Ghous reeled Singapore back in by applying outstanding pressure. It didn’t take long for dot balls to turn into wickets.

Like Mishra, Ghous reacts very poorly when the ball comes off the bat in the air and it can result in some angst for his fellow bowlers. When the ball travels directly to him though, he is a solid catching fielder. He put down a difficult return chance in the final against Nepal, but took two catches during the tournament. He finished tied for second with Shuja and Hutchinson by taking six wickets, but also had three chances dropped off his bowling.

Andy Mohammed – Incomplete: Mohammed played two matches, batting just once at number four against Singapore in the final group game. He entered in the 21st over in a situation that called for pushing the ball around for singles and doubles to rebuild in the middle overs after both openers had been dismissed. Instead, he kept trying to slog Singapore’s spinners for six. He succeeded once before being caught on the boundary for 10. Mohammed needs to show greater maturity and awareness of match situations to get more opportunities in the future. In the field, he converted a run out chance against Tanzania and had a brilliant diving catch against Singapore to spark USA’s fightback in the field.

Akeem Dodson – Incomplete: Dodson only played one match, scoring 3 against Singapore. He took one catch behind the stumps but also missed a straightforward stumping. Regardless of whether he was fielding inside the boundary or wearing a 12th man’s pinnie outside of it, no one brought more positive energy to the team when they were at the ground than Dodson. He’s eager to improve and his attitude demonstrates he has unwavering commitment to the team, supporting the squad wholeheartedly whether he plays no match or every match.

Click here for Part 1 - Team Grades

Coming up in Part 3 - Outlook for 2013 ICC WCL Division Three

USA Cricket: 2012 ICC WCL Division Four Report Card Part 1 - Team Grades

openingbat — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 18:05:00 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)

Batting – B: USA had the tournament’s two highest run getters in Sushil Nadkarni and Steven Taylor. The team had five half-centuries against four ducks, two of which came in the final against Nepal where promotion and relegation wasn’t at stake. None of the four centuries scored in the tournament were made by a USA batsman. USA had 14 individual scores between 20 and 49, showing that lots of people were getting starts but then failed to convert them into more substantial scores.

The team had one century stand, the very first partnership of the tournament between Nadkarni and Taylor against Malaysia, and seven half-century partnerships. USA’s first wicket partnerships in Hong Kong at Division Three last year produced an average stand of 11.33 runs. At Division Four in Malaysia, it was 53.67. In theory, having starts like that should take pressure off the rest of the batting unit.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor completes a cut shot against Denmark at the Selangor Turf Club. Taylor made a huge difference to the top of the order for USA compared to the team's opening partnership struggles at Division Three in Hong Kong last year. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

However, USA’s middle order, in its many jumbled configurations during the tournament, largely disappointed. Nadkarni made one of his two half-centuries at number four against Nepal and the other 50 that didn’t come at the top was Timroy Allen’s assault on Malaysia at number four when he was sent up the order with less than 15 overs to go to boost USA’s total. Otherwise, the middle order didn’t have anything significant to write home about.

Part of the lack of overall success from the middle order can be attributed to batsmen constantly being shuffled around without having a clearly defined role. There were also some strange decisions made, like having Allen come in to bat at number three in the fifth over of the group match vs. Nepal and Abhimanyu Rajp entering at number three in the fifth over against Nepal in the final.

Several other batsmen could have been utilized to knock the ball around for ones and twos in the early to middle overs to make 29 off 39, which is what Allen wound up with in the group game against Nepal. However, no one else on the team is better suited to come in at number seven with 10-15 overs remaining and clear the ropes when the team needs a major acceleration. Some fans may try to assign blame for that loss to some of the batsmen who came in later and couldn’t get USA across the line when the pressure started to rise in the final 11 overs, but it was a tactical blunder to have Allen unavailable to walk in at that stage. Experimenting with Rajp at three was also a mistake, or a two-word British phrase that rhymes with it.

Bowling – C+: There were 11 individual performances where a bowler took four wickets or more at this tournament, but none of them were by a USA player. Collectively the bowling unit was average. Allen tied for fourth overall on the wickets list with 10. USA took 39 out of a possible 60 wickets, the same amount Malaysia took and less than Singapore’s 49 and Nepal’s 59 in six games.

No bowler really stood out, but more importantly no one really threatened to devastate the opposition. On the whole, it never appeared that the better teams felt intimidated by USA’s pace bowling attack, which was supposed to be one of USA’s strengths heading into the tournament.

Image (left) - Timroy Allen took home two Man of the Match awards and was USA's leading bowler at the tournament with 10 wickets bowling a combination of pace and spin. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA’s lack of incisiveness was on full display over the first two days against Malaysia and Denmark. USA only managed to take eight wickets against Malaysia while allowing them to reach 219 in 50 overs. In their next two games, Malaysia reached 91 for 8 against Singapore and was steamrolled by Nepal for 69. USA won the toss and bowled first against Denmark with overcast conditions at the Selangor Turf Club and a seaming wicket weighing heavily in their favor but they made poor use of the new ball as Denmark rode out the testing conditions to eventually post 244 for 9. The only batting lineup USA managed to bowl out was Tanzania, not exactly a stellar achievement.

Not only were they not able to take wickets easily, but USA’s bowling attack struggled to keep the runs down as well. It was not often that USA’s bowlers were able to string together six dot balls in a row to build pressure individually or as a unit. USA’s attack completed 13 maidens in the tournament compared to 23 bowled against USA. The only team that had fewer maidens bowled than USA was Tanzania with 12, but Tanzania fielded for just 173 overs whereas USA’s bowlers completed 80.1 more overs in the field than Tanzania and had just one more maiden.

USA’s bowlers allowed four half-centuries and one century to be scored against them. The opposition also had six half-century stands and one century stand against USA. Some of those lengthy stands could have been curtailed had the fielders provided better support to back up the bowlers, but the bowlers didn’t make life easy on them either.

Fielding – F: On most days, USA’s fielding would make any fan want to cover their eyes. It reached its nadir against Nepal in USA’s fourth match when they dropped five catches, missed two run outs and never got a hand to perhaps as many as four other balls in the air that could have been chances. USA should consider themselves fortunate that the fielding output that day didn't wind up costing them a spot in Division Three.

By this journalist’s count, USA missed out on 23 clear cut chances during the tournament: six missed run outs, four missed stumpings and 13 missed catches. Not included in that figure are numerous other half-chances that fielders never got a hand to because they were slow to react to the ball coming off the bat. Regardless, 23 misses in the field over six games is a staggering number, especially since USA didn’t field for 50 overs in every game. They fielded for 251.3 overs in the tournament. That means that USA missed out on a clear chance every 11 overs they were in the field. Conversely, USA’s opponents offered them eight chances in 238.1 overs. That’s one chance about every 30 overs.

USA’s missed chances allowed their opponents to score an additional 307 runs. On average, batsmen added 21.93 more runs from the time they were initially given a life until the time they were dismissed, if they were dismissed at all. Four batsmen finished not out after being dropped. Conversely, USA’s batsmen produced 92 more runs off the eight extra chances they were given, adding 13.14 runs after the initial missed chance until they were dismissed.

Nadkarni said at the end of the tournament that one way to fix USA’s fielding woes was to hire specialist fielding coaches to work with the team, which is quite ironic since USA’s head coach in Malaysia, Robin Singh, used to be employed as a specialist fielding coach by the BCCI and was known as a superb fielder during his playing career.

Fitness – D: The team looked very tired batting second after having to field for 50 overs against Denmark and Nepal. The heat In Malaysia was draining on every team, but a team’s strategy can’t be based on winning the toss to avoid having to field first.

USA looked particularly woeful on the second day of back-to-back matches. The team had a 3-0 record playing after an off day and an 0-3 record playing for the second time in two days. The World Cricket League format is not new to USA, so there shouldn’t have been any surprises about what was expected in regards to the fitness requirements to make it through six matches in eight days.

Image (right) - Sushil Nadkarni finishes a cut shot with a flourish against Malaysia at Bayuemas Oval. Nadkarni was the tournament's leading scorer and never appeared to be troubled by the hot and humid conditions in Kuala Lumpur. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Just about the only players who looked like the heat didn’t affect them were Nadkarni and Allen. Otherwise, most players struggled whether it was batting, bowling or fielding. USA’s 23 missed chances in the field can be partly attributed to the poor fitness standards. The playing field was level for all teams with regards to the heat, but it looked like USA felt the effects more than most.

Coming up in Part 2 - Player Grades

USA Cricket: All-round Allen takes USA past Singapore, assist from Nepal sends USA to Division Three

openingbat — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 17:23:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur (on Twitter)

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

A sensational final day of the group stage saw USA surge to a 37-run win by Duckworth-Lewis Method over Singapore while Nepal defeated Denmark by 25 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method on Sunday at 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division Four in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The combination of results vaulted USA from fourth to second place and secured them promotion to 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Bermuda from April 28-May 5.

"I think against Denmark [the rain] kind of worked against us so at least once now it worked with us," USA's Timroy Allen said after the weather affected win. Allen was named Man of the Match after scoring 45 off 31 balls and taking 2 for 29 in six overs of off-spin. "So we're really happy. I don't mind it today."

USA won the toss and batted first under bright sunny skies at the Bayuemas Oval. Eighteen miles to the east, Nepal also won the toss and batted first at Kinrara Academy Oval against Denmark, who played their must win game without key batsman Freddie Klokker after he left the tournament a match early to play for Dosti Amsterdam in the Netherlands domestic league final. USA made two changes to their lineup from the loss on Friday to Nepal, bringing in Andy Mohammed and Akeem Dodson for Orlando Baker and Aditya Mishra.

Steven Taylor and Sushil Nadkarni opened for USA, putting on an 80-run stand for the first wicket. Taylor cracked five boundaries and three sixes, bringing up a half-century in 45 balls with a massive strike down the ground that caused a replacement ball to be brought out at the end of the 14th over. Taylor fell on his next delivery though, clean bowled by Singapore captain Saad Janjua and finished with USA’s top score on the day.

Over at Kinrara, Nepal dug themselves an early hole as Subash Khakurel, who made 115 on Friday against USA, was dismissed on the second ball of the match. Gyanendra Malla and Paras Khadka also fell cheaply to put Denmark on top at 50 for 3 in the 14th over.

USA captain Steve Massiah came in to bat at number three and added 29 for the third wicket with Nadkarni before the vice-captain was caught behind by Kshitij Shinde off the medium pace of Chetan Suryawanshi for 33. Mohammed came in at number four and scored 10 before holing out to long on, giving Dharmichand Mulewa a wicket with the score now 129 for 3. Aditya Thyagarajan entered at five and reached 4 off 16 balls in the 31st over when he strained a ligament in his right knee, the same one he dislocated in Hong Kong last year, and had to retire at 141 for 3.

By this time, Nepal had climbed back in front in their match thanks to a 91-run partnership between opener Anil Mandal and Sharad Vesawkar and from there maintained the upper hand throughout the rest of the match. Mandal went on to score 113 as Nepal eventually finished with 240 in their 50 overs, a very defendable total behind their spin bowling attack.

Akeem Dodson joined Massiah in the middle at Bayuemas, but both men fell in quick succession to put the first innings in the balance. Massiah went first, driving a return catch to 17-year-old left-arm spinner Abhiraj Singh for 30. Dodson had already offered two chances by the time he was dismissed on 3 off the bowling of Anish Param, caught behind by Suryawanshi, who had started the match as the wicketkeeper and then took over from Shinde again after finishing a brief bowling spell.

USA was 148 for 5 in the 36th over, but Thyagarajan’s return to the middle was a welcome sight after he was declared fit enough to join Allen at the crease. Thyagarajan provided the steady foil to Allen’s explosive hitting and the pair put on 59 crucial runs for the sixth wicket, of which Allen contributed 43. After losing the wicket of Dodson and scoring just one run in the first over of the batting power play in the 36th, Allen and Thyagarajan cracked 41 off the next 24 balls to boost USA closer to 200. Allen finally got out edging behind off medium pacer Amjad Mahboob and the score became 207 for 6.

Thyagarajan fell in the 44th, given LBW for 21 off Mahboob, to make it 223 for 7. Ryan Corns and Elmore Hutchinson calmly added 37 runs for the eighth wicket to take USA to 260 before three wickets fell in five balls to end USA’s innings in 49 overs for 263. Janjua was the one-man wrecking crew for Singapore in that over and finished with 4 for 40 in eight overs. Mulewa bowled a probing spell but only managed to snag 1 for 32 off 10. USA took advantage of five drops by Singapore during the innings, the costliest of which was Taylor at short midwicket on 17. Even though Singapore’s target was 264, USA had to restrict them to 257 in order to pass Singapore on net run rate.

Image (above) - USA celebrates on a damp Bayuemas Oval after gaining promotion to next year's ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Denmark’s chase at Kinrara got started well before USA took the field for the second innings at Bayuemas. The Danes suffered an early blow in the second over when their leading scorer in the tournament, Carsten Pedersen, was out for 1 in the second over falling to Nepal captain Paras Khadka.

While it was hot and sunny all through USA’s innings, dark clouds rolled in during the lunch break and only two overs were able to be completed before a flash thunderstorm unleashed heavy rains on the ground. A 2 hour and 10 minute delay followed at Bayuemas as attention turned to Kinrara where play was still going on.

Nepal’s spinners once again turned up the heat on an opponent as Denmark stuttered to 67 for 3 in the 21st over. The third wicket was vital for USA as it caused Denmark to fall well behind on Duckworth-Lewis, with the rain moving east from Bayuemas to Kinrara and set to interrupt that match at any moment. Denmark was able to reach 77 for 3 in 25 before rain finally arrived at Kinrara.

Once the rain stopped at Bayuemas, the outfield dried up quickly thanks to a superb drainage system. The few problem areas were soaked up by the ground staff and play eventually resumed with a new target set for Singapore of 186 to win in 27 overs. USA needed to hold them to 182 to prevent Singapore from finishing above them on net run rate.

Suryawanshi and Arjun Mutreja came out slugging and scored 28 runs off the first three overs by Shuja and Hutchinson after play resumed to leave USA shell-shocked. The introduction of spin was the undoing of Singapore though as Muhammad Ghous struck on his fourth ball to turn momentum back in USA’s direction. Mutreja tried to flick him over midwicket but Mohammed ran in from the rope and completed a fantastic catch on the run to get Mutreja for 21 and make it 39 for 1 in the sixth.

Like Singapore, USA had some troubles in the field as two run out chances were missed and another ball was dropped at backward point in the space of seven deliveries in a helter-skelter sequence. Allen was now bowling off-spin in tandem with Ghous and struck in the ninth over, getting Chaminda Kumarage caught at deep midwicket by Rajp, on as a sub for Thyagarajan, to make it 49 for 2 in eight. With skies still very grey, the second wicket also put USA in front on Duckworth-Lewis should rain curtail the match once 20 overs were completed.

USA continued to build more pressure in the field which led to another wicket in the next over as Param was run out for 1 by Corns, connecting underhanded with a direct hit after flying in from backward point to make it 50 for 1 in the 10th. Allen then removed the dangerous Suryawanshi five balls later for 23 and USA could start to sense victory coming closer at 52 for 4.

Christopher Janik, who made a century earlier in the tournament, could not make the most of a second life after a stumping chance was missed by Dodson with Janik on 4. Janik made it to 12 when he lofted Ghous to Taylor at long off to put USA a step closer to winning at 79 for 5 in the 16th.

Not long after, play got restarted at Kinrara as well with Denmark set a new target of 156 from 31 overs, meaning they had to make 79 off 36 balls with seven wickets in hand. On the first ball after play resumed, Andreas Lambert was bowled by Sanjam Regmi for 47 to effectively seal the match for Nepal.

At Bayuemas, Corns continued his bright tournament with the ball by getting Munish Arora caught behind by Dodson for 26 to make it 93 for 6 in the 19th. Singapore’s last roll of the dice was the now two-over batting power play in the 23rd and 24th overs as rain returned to the field. However, Hutchinson and Shuja showed no signs of having trouble gripping the ball and each man bounced back with a wicket after rough opening spells.

Hutchinson bowled a nerveless 23rd which began with the wicket of Janjua for 8 to make it 118 for 7. Shuja then capped the 24th as Shinde was caught on the point boundary by Rajp for 22. The umpires tried to give Singapore every opportunity to stay out there and finish the match on the field of play while a steady rain came down during both overs, but once the eighth wicket fell, the umpires took both teams off the field with Singapore resigned to defeat.

A half hour after restarting at Kinrara, the match ended with Denmark on 130 for 9. Nepal had clinched first place in the group stage and promotion to Division Three while the other promotion spot was now USA’s to claim. With only seven minutes remaining until the cutoff time of 6:45 p.m. and a minimum of 10 minutes needed for the umpires to inspect the field once the rain stopped, play was called off at Bayuemas. USA was declared the winner by 37 runs with Singapore way off the par score of 166 after 24 overs. The United States squad broke out into chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” in the locker room to celebrate the win and the news that they had been promoted back into Division Three after falling out in Hong Kong last year.

Ghous finished with 2 for 20 in six overs. Corns also contributed a vital 1 for 8 in two overs as USA’s wicket-taking spin trio on the day of Ghous, Corns and Allen gave up their runs at a hair over four an over between the three of them.

In the day’s other match, Malaysia beat Tanzania by five wickets. Malaysia opener Rakesh Madhavan scored 102 to chase down Tanzania’s 187 in 37.1 overs to give the host nation their first win of the tournament. Both teams will have a rematch in the fifth place game on Monday at Bayuemas Oval.

Singapore and Denmark will square off in the third place game at Selangor Turf Club on Monday. Meanwhile Nepal and USA will clash for the eighth time in four tournaments on Monday in the Division Four championship match at Kinrara Academy Oval. Both teams will then have seven months to get ready to face Bermuda, Italy, Oman and Uganda at Division Three next year.

DreamCricket.com’s live coverage of the 2012 ICC WCL Division Four championship match between USA and Nepal from Kinrara Academy Oval begins at 10 a.m. Monday, 10 p.m. EST and 7 p.m. PST on Sunday night in America.

USA Cricket: Khakurel's century and Basant Regmi's five scalps seal tense 32-run win for Nepal over USA

openingbat — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 03:10:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur (on Twitter)

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

Wicketkeeper Subash Khakurel took advantage of several fielding miscues by USA to notch 115, the highest score of the tournament thus far, to set the stage for a dramatic 32-run win for Nepal over USA on Friday at Kinrara Academy Oval on day four of the 2012 ICC WCL Division Four tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 19-year-old Khakurel was named Man of the Match for his performance, narrowly beating out teammate Basant Regmi who took 5 for 35 to prevent USA from chasing down Nepal’s first innings 258 for 8. Nepal remains undefeated at 4-0 with the win while USA drops to 2-2 after the loss.

Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first on a perfect batting track. USA made two changes to their starting XI from the day before against Tanzania, bringing back Sushil Nadkarni and Ryan Corns in favor of Andy Mohammed and Abhimanyu Rajp.

Khakurel and Anil Mandal opened the batting for Nepal. In the sixth over, USA committed their first dropped chance of the innings, one of seven clear cut missed chances in the innings as well as four others that fielders misjudged or reacted poorly to off the bat and as a result never got a hand to. Mandal was on 9 when he edged Usman Shuja low to Nadkarni at slip, but the USA vice-captain spilled the chance with the score at 15 for 0.

“I really don’t know what went wrong,” Nadkarni said. “We were well prepared for this game. We knew this was a must win game. Basically we had talked a lot in the team meetings about this game so to come out and miss so many chances in the field, this was by far our weakest performance in the field over the last three games so I really don’t have an explanation for what happened out there.”

Two overs later, Khakurel was on 6 when he chipped Shuja gently in the air to the right of Muhammad Ghous at mid on, but Ghous reacted late and despite a dive never got a hand to the ball. Mandal was on 11 in the 10th with the score 23 for 0 when he pulled a bouncer from Timroy Allen straight to Orlando Baker at square leg, who lunged to his left and spilled a fairly straightforward chance.

Mandal retired hurt on 12 after the 11th over with the score 30 for 0 but Gyanendra Malla came to the crease and added 81 more runs with Khakurel before Nepal would finally lose their first wicket. With Malla fresh at the crease, both batsmen showed hesitation running between the wickets. Khakurel was on 22 in the 13th over with the score on 39 when Malla prodded a delivery to point that Khakurel tried to take a run off of while Malla stayed put. Corns charged in from point and fielded with Khakurel stranded down the pitch, but the throw to the non-striker’s end was wild and sailed by five yards over the stumps.

USA’s bowlers continued to do a decent job of keeping the scoring rate down despite not taking wickets as Nepal hovered around four runs per over through the halfway stage of the innings. Khakurel brought up his half-century off 85 balls to start the 29th over, but on the last ball of the over, Malla was dismissed for 46 by Corns, well caught at long off by Aditya Thyagarajan diving forward to make it 111 for 1.

Image (right) - Subash Khakurel drives through the leg side during his 115. [Courtesy: ICC/Peter Lim]

Nepal captain Paras Khadka came in and with wickets in hand, made efficient use of the batting power play from the start of the 36th over, adding 46 runs with Khakurel over the next five frames to boost Nepal from 138 to 184. Both players were most effective combating the pace of Allen, scoring 14 runs off the 37th and 10 more off the medium pacer in the 39th.

The 37th could have ended with a wicket for Allen when Khadka, on 25, pulled a full toss flat in the air to the deep midwicket rope, but Aditya Mishra misjudged the ball in the air and ran in only for the ball to clear him and land two yards inside the rope before bouncing over for a boundary. On the very next ball to start the 38th, Khakurel was offered another life on 71 with the score on 160 when he drove Elmore Hutchinson to Steve Massiah’s left at cover. The USA captain reached across his body and spilled the chance, the first of three drops by him on the day.

Khadka was run out for 41 off 34 balls in the 40th over as Khakurel struck a full delivery from Elmore Hutchinson straight to Nadkarni at midwicket and Khadka took off when there was no run on offer. Nadkarni connected with a direct hit at the non-striker’s end to make it 180 for 2.

Mandal then returned to resume his innings, adding eight more to his total before pulling a full toss from Allen to Hutchinson at deep midwicket to depart for 20 and make it 207 for 3 after 44. Corns finished up his spell in the next over, conceding just four runs and finished with 1 for 44 in 10, by far USA’s best bowler not only statistically but by the amount of times he troubled the batsmen on the day. Nepal was 211 for 3 after 45 and it looked like USA might possibly keep Nepal under 250, which was crucial to their chances of winning on a day when they had to spend 210 minutes in 90 degree heat before coming out to bat.

However, it was not meant to be as USA’s fielding horrors reared their ugly head several more times in the last five overs. Pradeep Airee skied a chance off Allen three balls into the 46th that Massiah couldn’t claim running back from cover. Airee ran two and then hit a boundary off the next ball before being bowled by Allen for 14 to end a 13-run over at 224 for 4.

Khakurel started the 47th over on 99 and Baker had a chance to run him out on the second ball do deny him a century. Khakurel pushed a full ball from Hutchinson to point and took off while his new partner Basant Regmi wasn’t interested. Baker fielded at point and from 10 yards out missed the stumps. Khakurel brought up his century with a single off the next delivery, taking 135 balls to reach the milestone.

Regmi received two lives in the 48th, the first when he was controversially reprieved off a no ball called on height. Shuja bowled a full toss well outside off that seemed to dip below waist height as Regmi slashed it in the air to Thyagarajan on the third man rope where a simple catch was taken. The umpire signaled a no ball though and it appeared to rattle USA further. Khakurel took the following two pitched up deliveries and smacked them for four and six over long off. When Regmi got on strike again later in the over, he skied a pull to midwicket where Massiah settled under a simple chance before spilling it. Nepal wound up with 15 from the over to stand at 245 for 4 in 48 with 250 now a certainty.

Khakurel finally ran out of lives in the 49th when he edged Hutchinson behind to Steven Taylor to depart for 115 off 142, striking 10 boundaries and two sixes along the way. Sharad Vesawkar was run out first ball on the next delivery as Hutchinson fielded adjacent to the pitch and fired to the non-striker’s stumps behind him to make it 248 for 6 with eight balls to go in the innings.

USA took two more wickets in the final over, Shuja bowling Binod Das for 7 off the third ball and then getting a hand to a drive from Shakti Gauchan down the pitch with the ball continuing on to the non-striker’s stumps to run out Regmi for 6 but Nepal ended on 258 for 8.

Despite the fact that the wicket was still perfectly good for batting, Nepal entered the second innings as favorites to defend with their tidy spin bowling attack and crisp fielding. As has been the case before in USA’s contests against Nepal, Sushil Nadkarni was shifted down the order to negate Nepal’s spinners. As a result, Orlando Baker opened the batting with Steven Taylor.

USA started out the chase in confident fashion as Taylor struck the first two deliveries from left arm seamer Amrit Bhattarai for boundaries. Taylor saw all but three deliveries from the first four overs to take himself to 17 and the team score to 19 but Bhattarai was taken off immediately after one over and off-spinner Sanjam Regmi provided the breakthrough in the fifth when Taylor tried to sweep him but couldn’t keep the ball on the ground and sent a catch straight to Vesawkar at backward square leg to make it 19 for 1.

USA then committed a major tactical blunder, sending Allen in to bat at number three. Massiah’s troubles against spin on tour meant there was a strong probability he would be shifted down the order against Nepal, but rather than have Mishra or Corns enter at number three, two players who are geared to knocking the ball around for ones and twos against spinners while building an innings, USA sent their best late innings basher in at number three early in the innings and asked him to knock the ball around for singles, rotate the strike and build the innings. While Allen did so effectively, it meant that if he couldn’t carry on through the 40th over, USA had no one left in reserve to provide a surge of boundaries in the final 10 overs if they got behind on the required run rate.

Baker was having trouble scoring against Nepal’s spinners and on the last ball of the 10th over, tried to use his feet against Basant Regmi and was beaten in flight and stumped for 8 off 27 balls to make it 35 for 2. Nadkarni entered and built a solid partnership with Allen to provide some stability to the innings. Nadkarni took some time to get settled, scoring just 6 off his first 18 deliveries, but started to heat up in the 16th, cracking the off-spinner Sanjam Regmi twice through the covers for a pair of boundaries.

Nadkarni then brought up the half-century partnership with a six over deep midwicket off left-arm spinner Gauchan to start the 23rd and followed it four balls later by skipping down the track and slamming a massive six over long on as USA ended the 23rd at 94 for 2. The partnership finally ended when Basant Regmi trapped Allen on the crease playing across to dismiss him for 29, giving Nepal the advantage once again at 96 for 3.

Massiah entered at number five and after a cautious start, played his best knock of the tour. A six off Khadka in the 29th spurred him on and soon after, both he and Nadkarni were rotating the strike with relative ease. Nadkarni brought up his 50 in 74 balls in the 31st over and USA entered the batting power play to start the 36th at 147 for 3 having just brought up the half-century partnership in the previous over. USA needed to make it through the next five overs without losing wickets to swing the momentum fully in their direction.

They started off looking like they would make it happen as Massiah smacked a six over midwicket off Sanjam Regmi to end the 36th for a 13-run over to make it 160 for 3. After five runs off Basant in the 37th, Massiah and Nadkarni feasted on Khadka for 17 runs in the 38th, taking the required run rate below seven per over as USA edged in front at 182 for 3 in 38.

With only three runs off the first five balls in the 39th, Massiah tried for a heave over midwicket and was bowled for 41 by Basant to make it 185 for 4. The wicket sparked a collapse for USA which saw shrewd captaincy backed up by more spectacular fielding from Nepal.

Mishra, USA’s best player of spin, arrived to start the 39th and Khadka immediately brought Bhattarai back on for Nepal’s first over of pace since the 13th over. It worked to brilliant effect as Mishra was trapped LBW third ball without scoring to make it 185 for 5 in the 40th. USA scored 35 runs for no wickets in the first three overs of the batting power play, but Nepal took two wickets for six runs in the final two overs of the batting power play to once again take command of the match.

Two balls later, the match was firmly in Nepal’s grasp when Nadkarni was caught by Das at backward point off Sanjam Regmi for 84. Nadkarni got a short ball that he tried to cut in the air through the off side and it looked like the ball would clear the ring, but Das sprung to his left and knifed the ball out of the air with his left hand before crashing to the turf and holding on to make it 188 for 6. USA had lost both set batsmen and three wickets overall in the span of nine balls for just three runs.

Thyagarajan and Corns came together and had a shaky partnership, with both men nearly running each other out on several occasions while Thyagarajan looked rusty, missing out on several full tosses. By the start of the 45th, the required run rate had crept up to nine per over and two balls later Thyagarajan tried to clear long off but Malla took a simple catch on the rope to remove him for 8 to give Gauchan his first wicket and make it 210 for 7.

Corns was caught at deep midwicket by Malla for 12 off Basant in the next over and two balls later Basant completed his five-wicket haul, bowling Shuja without scoring to reduce USA to 213 for 9 with 46 needed off 24 balls and only Hutchinson and Ghous in the way of victory for Nepal. The match ended two balls into the 49th when Ghous was bowled by Gauchan for 2, USA all out for 226.

Nepal’s vibrant and youthful fielding – the oldest player on the team is Sanjam Regmi at 29 – was the clear difference on the day, with the Asian unit holding onto all their catches while Malla and Khadka were effective at making countless diving stops in the circle to prevent singles during the middle overs.

In Friday’s other matches, Denmark had a difficult time beating Malaysia, winning by three wickets with 11 balls to spare after being set a target of 253. It caused their net run rate to take a major hit. Singapore beat Tanzania by eight wickets, bowling out the African side for 94 before chasing the runs in 11.2 overs. The losses for Tanzania and Malaysia meant both teams have now been relegated to Division Five.

After four days of competition, Nepal sits in first place at 4-0 while Singapore and Denmark are at 3-1 with Singapore in second on net run rate. USA is now fourth at 2-2, but has a better net run rate than Denmark and is only 0.078 behind Singapore on net run rate.

While the loss for USA was damaging to their chances of promotion, they are still very much alive but do not control their own destiny. No team has yet qualified for Division Three with several scenarios possible for the final group standings after Sunday. Nepal plays Denmark and USA squares off against Singapore on the final day of group play. USA will need to beat Singapore by only a small margin and have Nepal beat Denmark in order for USA to finish second and be promoted to Division Three.

“We’ll do our best to regroup and make plans and come out fighting,” Nadkarni said. “These games are very tough on any given day. Any team can beat anybody. We will try our best. We’ll try to study the Singapore team through our video analyst and come out and play hard.”

If Denmark beats Nepal, then USA cannot qualify for Division Three. If Denmark beats Nepal and USA beats Singapore, then Denmark and Nepal will finish in the top two and move to Division Three. If Nepal beats Denmark and Singapore beats USA, then Nepal and Singapore will be promoted. If Denmark beats Nepal by a wide margin and Singapore beats USA by a wide margin, both Singapore and Denmark could potentially pass Nepal on net run rate, leaving Nepal in third after winning their first four matches.

DreamCricket.com will have live coverage of an action filled final day in Kuala Lumpur when USA takes on Singapore from Bayuemas Oval on Sunday morning. Live coverage begins at 10 a.m. Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, 10 p.m. EST and 7 p.m. PST on Saturday night in the USA.

Update: Below are some scenarios for USA in their match against Singapore on Sunday in order for them to pass Singapore on net run rate.

USA bats first and scores 200: USA must restrict Singapore to 190 or lower.
USA bats first and scores 225: USA must restrict Singapore to 217 or lower.
USA bats first and scores 250: USA must restrict Singapore to 243 or lower.

Singapore bats first and makes 200: USA must reach the target in 48.0 overs.
Singapore bats first and makes 225: USA must reach the target in 48.3 overs.
Singapore bats first and makes 250: USA must reach the target in 48.5 overs.

USA Cricket: Shuja and Taylor lead USA to 7-wicket win over Tanzania

openingbat — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 10:37:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur (on Twitter)

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

Fast bowler Usman Shuja took 3 for 14 to spearhead the USA attack as they bowled out Tanzania for 92 before a Steven Taylor blitz ensured USA needed just nine overs to seal a win by seven wickets over Tanzania on Thursday at Kinrara Academy Oval on day three of the 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division Four tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Shuja was named Man of the Match for his performance, which helped move USA to 2-1 while Tanzania remains winless in the tournament at 0-3. USA now sits at second place on net run rate after previously undefeated Denmark lost to Singapore later in the day.

While Tanzania never figured to pose a serious challenge for USA, the match was still critical for USA in the net run rate equation which is the tournament’s first tiebreaker if teams finish with identical records at the end of the round robin stage. Because of that, USA elected to field first after winning the toss in a bid to bowl Tanzania out as quickly and cheaply as possible followed by a rapid chase to boost the team’s net run rate.

“We definitely wanted to win and win by a huge margin to improve our net run rate,” Shuja said after the win. “The reason we wanted to bowl first was I think we had more control over our second innings. We wanted to finish the innings as quickly as we could and secondly we wanted to make the game as short as possible so we are more fresh for tomorrow’s game and that’s exactly how it worked out.”

Sushil Nadkarni was rested for the match with Andy Mohammed coming into the starting eleven on the day. USA went through a frustrating first six overs as both Shuja and fellow opening bowler Elmore Hutchinson repeatedly beat the outside edge with a packed slips cordon – there were as many as five catching fielders at times lined up alongside Taylor behind the stumps during the innings – waiting for a nick to come their way.

Hutchinson finally broke the opening stand by bowling Nasibu Mapunda through the gate for 5 to make it 15 for 1 in the seventh. Six balls later, Shuja made his first breakthrough of the day, bowling Seif Abdul for 11 as Tanzania’s openers were now back in the pavilion with the score 21 for 2.

In the 10th, Shuja had Abhik Patwa caught by Abhimanyu Rajp at third slip for 5 and then castled Zamayoni Jabeneke for a golden duck to put himself on a hat trick at 30 for 4. Orlando Baker nailed Issa Kikasa on the toe with a yorker in the next over and his LBW appeal was upheld to remove the Tanzania wicketkeeper for 3 and the score was 31 for 5.

Image (right) - Usman Shuja received the Man of the Match award after taking 3 for 14 in six overs as USA bowled out Tanzania for 92 before completing a victory by seven wickets at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Tanzania could have sunk even further had Timroy Allen held onto a chance at gully three balls later from the new batsman Kassim Nassoro Mussa with the score at 35 for 5 and Mussa on 4. The reprieve opened the door for Tanzania to have their best partnership of the match, 38 runs for the sixth wicket, as Mussa attempted a counterattack, striking five boundaries that included a couple of superbly timed cover drives mixed with two straight drives through mid on.

Mussa’s innings finally came to an end when he tried to cut Allen but was cramped for room and played onto his stumps, ending his innings for Tanzania’s top score at 28 and leaving the score 69 for 6. Tanzania then crumbled quickly, losing three wickets in 10 balls while the score was on 74.

The first was a solid piece of fielding from Mohammed as he pounced on a ball running in from point and fired a direct hit at the non-striker’s end to run out Abdallah for 11. Four balls later, Allen bounced out Benson Mwita Nyaikini for 4 after the batsman top edged a pull that Allen waited under for a return catch. Muhammad Ghous nabbed Riziki Kiseto in the next over without scoring, edging behind to Taylor.

Tanzania’s last pair hung around for six more overs, adding 18 for the final wicket, their second best partnership of the match. Ghous ended the resistance when he dove to his left to claim a return catch off a full toss. Khalil Rehemtulla had to go for 13 as Tanzania succumbed for 92 in 29.3 overs. Ghous finished with 2 for 14 while Allen took 2 for 20 in a pair of tidy bowling displays to support Shuja.

Taylor opened the batting with Aditya Mishra and saw every ball from the first two overs, blasting two sixes and three boundaries in that span to take USA to 37 for 0 after 12 balls. Taylor brought up the 50 partnership – with 39 of the runs provided by him – in 3.4 overs with a lofted drive over mid on. He started the fifth over with a monstrous bash over long on, but was dismissed the next ball for 46 off 22 balls after getting a fine edge through to the keeper attempting to back away from the stumps to drive Nyaikini over the off side. The score was 57 for 1 and Mishra was on 1, having faced just four deliveries while having a perfect view of Taylor’s devastating display.

Hutchinson joined Mishra as the two continued to speed toward the target with Mishra hitting a six over midwicket and Hutchinson launching one over the sight screen at the south end of the ground. Both departed three balls apart when USA needed just one more shot to reach the target. Mishra top edged a full toss and was caught at short third man by Abdallah off Mapunda for a run a ball 15 while Hutchinson was bowled for 14 off 11 after missing a massive heave to make it 89 for 3 on the first ball of the ninth. Allen and Steve Massiah knocked off the final four runs over the next five deliveries to give USA the win.

Nepal moved to 3-0 on Thursday and sits alone atop the standings after a 10-wicket win over Malaysia at Selangor Turf Club. Nepal bowled out the host side for 69 as leg-spinner Shakti Gauchan returned remarkable figures of 10 overs, eight maidens, 3 for 2. Nepal chased the runs in 12.2 overs with Anil Mandal making 41 not out.

Denmark suffered their first setback on Thursday at Bayuemas Oval after losing to Singapore by four wickets, a result that helped USA move into second place on net run rate tiebreaker with all three teams now sitting at 2-1. Denmark was bowled out for 173 in 46.3 overs after choosing to bat first. Singapore chased the runs down with 20 balls to spare as Munish Arora followed up his half-century against Malaysia with 39 not out against Denmark.

USA now faces a huge showdown with Nepal in a game that could decide first place in the group stage. The two sides have engaged in several tight contests over the last four years with each team notching two wins against the other while two other matches finished with no result. Shuja, who took a five-wicket haul against Nepal at 2008 ICC WCL Division Five in Jersey and has 14 wickets in six ICC World Cricket League matches against Nepal, is preparing for another classic encounter.

“Nepal and USA cricket teams are extremely good rivals,” Shuja said. “We have had extremely good games in the past. I expect tomorrow’s game to be a cracker as well. The division is on the line so I think it’s gonna be a phenomenal game. Nepal is playing really well right now and so are we. They rely heavily on their spin attack and their players who play spin very well. We on the other hand rely on playing fast bowling well and our fast bowling attack is pretty strong.”

“So I think it’s gonna be a very different type of cricket that’s gonna come together tomorrow but I’m very very confident that we’re gonna do well. The team is looking very good right now. Our bowling attack is looking good. Steven Taylor is batting phenomenal. So I think overall the team is coming together well and if I have to put my money on I would put it on USA.”

Live coverage of the showdown between USA and Nepal from the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur begins on DreamCricket.com at 10 a.m. Friday in Malaysia, 10 p.m. EST and 7 p.m. PST Thursday night in the USA.