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MichCA News Release - By Srinivas Vedula
Wow!!! What a finish? The silverware was achieved once again by Chrysler (DCX) under the leadership and guidance of its Captain Mr. Shahid Ahmed. DCX’s magnificent run in the tournament ended with a thumping victory against the mighty Ford. The bliss of Chrysler team cannot be described; one had to be in the midst to relish it. But for now, DCX team will rest and cherish this moment until the day comes to defend the championship cup again next year.
Four teams, seven games and One Championship. The path to Championship for Chrysler began on Saturday Morning at 9:00 in Bloomer Park, Rochester Hills. Its first game was played against the experienced Ford Team whose players were all pumped up to grab the coveted prize which they had to pass on last year to DCX. Ford dominated this tournament for the first three consecutive years beating Chrysler all three times.
This year it was not a fairy tale ride for Chrysler though having lost to Ford in the first game. Chrysler batted first to put on a score of 127 in 20 overs thanks to a strong batting performance by Pankaj Gupta who amassed 61 runs. Ford scored 128 in 19 overs aided by the excellent batting display of Prasad Cherukuri who remained not out on 47 runs. He was ably supported by John Jacob who scored 34 runs. Pankaj Gupta of DCX was adjudged the Man of the Match for his batting performance. He also contributed with the ball grabbing a wicket for a miserly 18 runs.
On the other end, last year's runner-up GM played Altair Engineering in Lyon Oaks Park, Wixom. Altair emerged the winners of that game after chasing a total of 112 runs in 18 overs. Girish Kamthe with 46 runs not out and Amit Jain with 52 not out were the stars of Altair in scripting this sensational victory. Amit Jain was judged man of the match for his fine batting display. Having posted a convincing victory against GM, Altair was looking forward to face the defending champions, Chrysler at Bloomer Park on Saturday afternoon. GM on the other hand was trying to gets all its cards together to face the dominant force in the form of Ford team at Lyon Oaks Park.
The afternoon game for Chrysler against Altair Engineering gave their first victory of this years Championship. Chrysler batted first and put up a score of 128 in the given 20 overs.
Though the total is similar to what DCX posted against Ford, it was not as dominant as it seems. Riding on some great top order scoring(Suri Bala 20, Sriram Raghavan 27 and Pankaj Gupta 26) Chrysler team managed to post just 34 runs amonst the other 7 batsmen. The chif destructor with the ball has been Adarsh Mavanthoor of Altair, who finished with the best bowling performance in the tournament’s history till date. He rattled DCX middle order to finish with 6/18 off his 4 overs. But this was not enough as only half the task was done for Altair. They lost the game ending up scoring just 115 runs-14 runs short of the mark. Girish Kanthe fought on single handedly to make an emphatic 46 in the second successive game, but his sole effort was not enough due to lack of support from the other batsmen. Girish was aptly adjudged the Man of the Match for his single handed effort in trying to keep the winning flame still ablaze.
Though Chrysler started their quest for a second successive championship with a loss, they gained momentum at with their comeback victory over Altair Engineering.
GM, driving by the huge opening partnership between Faisal Sultan,38 runs and Suresh,30 runs, they managed to post a huge target of 130 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. Ford were off to a good start before John Jacob was removed very early. Prasad Cherukuri continued his amazing form having teamed up with Ghanta Rao and taking on the responsibility of steadying the ship. Both the batsmen were cruising laong well before Ghanta Rao was run out for 27 runs. Rehan Syed Bukhari joined Prasad and they kept the score board moving along fairly well keeping the target always in sight. Prasad Cherukuri got out to another well made 27 runs and contributed his usual best towards what is turning to be a close encounter. Rehan Bukhari carried the run chase till the end remaining not out with 45 runs and coveting the Man of the Match Award for guiding his team to victory in the penultimate ball of the game! GM who lost their first game continued their win-less drought.
This was just the start of what defines this tournament – excitement, thrill and fun to adults, kids and all cricket lovers who came to watch these games. The first day’s games ended with two highlights—the best bowling performance in the history of the tournament by Adarsh Mavanthoor(6/18) and the exciting nail biting finish between Ford and GM
The next day is the day of finals, the destiny of Chrysler, GM and Altair still to be decided. Ford was already through to the Finals as they had won both their games on Saturday. Who would be challenging Ford in the Finals, was a very open questions at the start of day two proceedings. Ford managed to reach the Finals based on the two wins against GM and DCX on the opening day.
Sunday, the second and final day of the tournament started off with a game between Ford and Altair at Bloomer Park where all the remaining games including the Finals were staged. Ford who has already confirmed their place in finals had to just play off this game but for Altair it was a must win. Again, Ford was too strong of a team posting an intimidating 151 runs in their allocated 20 overs. The top order contributed for the majority of the runs with Prasad, Rehan contributing 30 + each. Ford won their third game in a row and remained the undefeated team of the Championship so far. They bundled Altair for 91 runs and sent the message strongly to whoever is eyeing for a face off in the finals.
All eyes were on the second game of Sunday before the finals. Chrysler against GM. This game holds prominence because if Chrysler wins the game they move on to the finals and for GM to move to the finals they have to win by a very big margin in order to gain a huge run rate advantage. So far, Altair with one win, Chrysler with two wins and GM looking to post its first win are all still contenders for the other finalist spot.
The game between Chrysler and GM began with GM batting first. Suresh P continued his good form through the tournament to post the highest score of GM innings, 36 runs. Balaji K and Anil Goli each contributed with 18 and 19 runs a piece to post a fighting total of 123 for Chrysler to chase. GM had to win this big and for that to happen they had to restrict DCX for a meagerly total. But Chrysler opening batsmen Sriram and Suri Bala had other thoughts and at the end of 10 overs Chrysler were 50 runs with out losing wickets. The asking run rate grew over 7 runs per over and it was time for Chrysler to change gears. Pankaj Gupta joined Suri Bala after the fall of Sriram on an individual score of 27 runs. These two batsman played some awesome cricket, especially Pankaj who in no time scored a half century attacking the GM bowling. Suri was run out to a well made 27 runs. Chrysler won in the 18th over for the loss of one wicket. Pankaj Gupta was adjudged the man of the match for his masterful innings.
Chrysler team was jubilant with the victory against GM. Having ensured a place in the finals, they would be facing Ford for the fourth time in the finals during the 5 years of tournament history.
The stage was all set for the finale, the crowd started gathering in multifold. Bloomer Park looked like a festival spot. Michigan Cricket Association (MichCA) did a tremendous job in organizing this whole event with refreshments provided to the spectators and a bunch of activities organized for kids such as mock up playing sessions on the side pitch, along with face painting, pizza and tshirt giveaways along with trivia quizzes loaded with prizes.
The guest of honor Mr. Mushtaq Mohammed, former Captain of Pakistan Cricket Team arrived in time for the finals. All the kids, cricketers were gathered around Mr. Mushtaq Mohammed who taught them some basics of cricket along the sidelines of the cricket field. The crowd settled down slowly getting ready for what they all have been waiting for, the finals between Ford and Chrysler.
Chrysler won the toss and elected to field putting in Ford to set a target. Chrysler was a tired team after playing a game under the sun against GM just an hour ago, whereas Ford was a rested team. Ford batsman were very aggressive and started piling up runs from the start of the game. John Jacob who opened the innings played a cameo knock of 60 runs to guide Ford into a formidable position. He was ably supported by Gautham who scored 27 uns. Shahid Ahmed from DCX was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4 important wickets and helping in restricting the Ford team to 148 runs in 20 overs.
It was huge score to chase for Chrysler and that too under the pressure of retaining the Championship. The opening batsmen Sriram and Suri Bala walked in with a positive attitude and toyed with the fiery bowling attack of Ford by hitting the ball all around the ground. At one point of time Chrysler were 70 for no loss in 6 overs. Sriram was out after scoring a blistering 38 runs. Shahid Ahmed walked in to bat up the order joining Suri Bala who was playing very well. Shahid and Suri teamed up very well and never let the momentum faint. They kept running between the wickets real hard and scored boundaries at will.The huge task of 149 runs was achieved with ease in 18.1 overs with some brilliant and sensible batting by Sriram Raghavan, Suri Bala and Shahid Ahmed. Suri bala remained not out with 57 runs and Shahid Ahmed remained not out with 25 runs. Chasing 149 in 20 overs at one time seemed to be a humongous task, at the end it was achieved quite easily by the determined Chrysler team who were successful in defending the championship. The victory was sweeter for another reason as well. Chrysler lost to Ford in the first three championship outings in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The opportunity to face their arch cricket rivals and to beat them convincingly was a huge thing for the DCX team.
The last event of the Championship was the ceremony of honoring the guest of honor, the sponsors, individual player performance and finally crowning the Champions. Individual player performance of each game played during the Championship was recognized during the award cermony. Chrysler player Pankaj Gupta took away 4 individual awards along with the Dreamcricket.com's MVP Award for the tournament.
Chrysler Captain Shahid Ahmed and Suri Bala shared the Man of the Match award for the Finals. Finally the Big, heavy Crystal, Big 3 Championship Cup was handed over to Chrysler team amidst joy and celebration. The Grey and Black uniform filled the stage carrying the Cup head high with big smile on their face.
A diversified event, bringing in families together, people of different parts of the world to meet at one place for a social gathering was truly remarkable. This has been a successful 6th year in a row for Michigan Cricket Association (MichCA) with many more to come.
The festival is done for now, the thirst for the Championship having ended only to begin for the next year. Can Chrysler make it three times in a row by defending the Championship next year? Or is that 3peat performance only possible by Ford?
A question that will be answered same time next year… Until then relax and enjoy the memories of this year’s event
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