The Radiant Info USA Twenty20 Tournament will culminate in the grand finale tomorrow - featuring a rematch of Group-A teams - NY Destroyers and the Global Challengers.   The final will be played at the scenic Watsessing Park 1 in Bloomfield, New Jersey where the festivities will begin at 1PM.   Honorable Upendra Chivukula, Deputy speaker of New Jersey Assembly will be the Guest of Honor along with Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Indian cricketing legend who was part of the 1983 World Cup Squad.

The Challengers led by the inimitable Neil McGarrell are clearly the favorites heading into the final and youthful NY Destroyers will need to come up with a different strategy if they harbor any hopes of winning the title.

After a spate of one-sided games on the first day, the Radiant Info USA Twenty20 sprung alive with a bunch of high-voltage games on the second day. The morning’s matches featured a bragging-rights match between the NY Destroyers & Global Challengers and another one in Group B featuring the NJ Daredevils and the New England Pioneers. At the beginning of the day, the result of the Daredevils - Pioneers was assumed to be a foregone conclusion - with the general consensus being that the Pioneers had no chance against the Daredevils’ run machine. 

However, what ensued through the rest of the day was anything but predictable. The Destroyers and the Challengers engaged in a high-scoring run fest that could only be described as the “High Noon Shootout”.

The fans were the biggest benefactors from this parallel pyrotechnic show and wishing that split-screen match views were possible on the ground.  Exclamations from one field were matched by thundering booms of the bat from the other field - all in all making for a wonderful cricketing Sunday feast for the fans.

Here’s how it all unfolded-

The NJ Daredevils versus New England Pioneers produced more than its share of surprises. With Guest of Honor Balwinder Singh Sandhu watching the performances, NJ Daredevils turned on the heat on New England and blasted them all over the park. Most of the attack came from the willow of Kiran Patel who got 78 from just 42 balls before he was unfortunately run out.   Chris Vassel got 28 and Nasir Islam got 21 in support roles to Kiran’s main act as they helped put up 158 for 7.   Chasing 159 and with a team which had seen some key players becoming unavailable, New England Pioneers were written off , not only by the spectators who started paying attention to the events of the adjoining ground, but by their own players one of whom headed home after he was downed early on.

After Sharaz Baksh got a duck and Shahid Shahzab got LBW for 2, the latter left the field and left the field disappointed thinking his teams campaign had ended.   But New England captain Fazal Alam had a point to prove and he took it upon himself to get the house in order. Scoring 46 from 31 balls, he toiled hard to keep the Pioneers in the game.  The rocket fuel for the final orbit came from Sanichar who just blasted his way through with 45 that included 6 hits to the fence (2 fours and 4 sixes).    Not only did the Pioneers shake up Daredevils' confidence, they also knocked Gentlemen of Philadelphia out the equation.   Bowling for Daredevils, Chris Vassel excelled with 3 for 19, but runs flowed freely from his colleagues as Alam and then Sanichar were merciless in their attack.

The NY Destroyers came into the tournament riding on a reputation based on vibrant youth and extreme athleticism. After their quick work against the Senators yesterday, their first true test was going to be against the Challengers. Meanwhile, the Challengers did not get a chance to battle test their strengthened batting lineup against the Senators and today’s game against the Destroyers was their last chance before the do or die stage of the tournament. And boy did they test their batting strength. Winning the toss, the Challengers elected to bat and the openers Qayyam Farooq and Andrew Gonzales had a sedate start against the Destroyers attack consisting of George Adams and Khaleem Bux. They inched their way to 19 off 5 overs before opening up their arms.

Having gained a measure of the pitch, the two carved out 37 runs in the next 5 overs to take the total to 56 in 10 overs. Qayyam was the first to fall caught by Dodson off Javain Thomas for 19 off 25 balls. Sudhesh Dhaniram came at one down and immediately upped the ante with fours and sixes. Unfortunately, his innings was cut short when he was caught at mid-off by Zaheer Saffie off skipper Barington Bartley’s bowling. Dhaniram had put on put on 36 runs in a second wicket partnership with Gonzales of which his contribution alone was 30 inclusive of 2 fours and sixes. Dhaniram’s explosive innings was a mere precursor to the mayhem that Gonzales was about to unleash. Boundary hits and booming drives became a regular feature as Andrew went hammer and tongs at the NY Destroyers bowlers. He soon reached his 50 and his intensity only seemed to increase as he passed this milestone. He was eventually out for 87 - the highest individual score in the tournament so far in the last over caught by Smith off Bartley. Tony Powell and Prasad Mahadeo provided adequate support for Gonzales as the Challengers finished on 160 for 5 in 20 overs. Captain Barington Bartley was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets for 36 runs and Javain Thomas accounted for the other wicket to fall.
 
The Destroyers response hinged on a spirited counter-attack and they did exactly that - thanks to a brilliant start from Dennis Evans. Though his partner, Akeem Dodson feel cheaply for 2, Evans keep the scoreboard ticking along with Zaheer Saffie and the two ensured that the required run-rate was always within reachable limits during the chase. The pair took the Destroyers to 60 off 8 overs when Challengers captain made a breakthrough bowling Evans for 30 (off 26 balls). Saffie followed 13 runs later for 26. The sudden loss of wickets and the tight bowling by the wily Challengers bowlers strangled the rest of the Destroyers batsmen as they fell short by 15 runs in their chase. Ron Andrews attempted to carry the game single-handedly with a busy 35 but when he was castled by McGarrell that pretty much ended the game for the Destroyers and they finished 15 runs short of the target. Captain McGarrell was the pick of the bowlers for the Challengers accounting for 3 wickets off 22 runs and Andrew Gonzales was awarded the man of the match for his brilliant batting display.

With the score reading 61 for no loss at the start of the 12th over, the match was looking like it was in New Jersey's pocket.   Together with Siddharth Mehta (23), Aditya Mishra (50) put on a 63 run partnership for the first wicket.   But whereas Aditya's form peaked, the rest of the team's started to sag!   And what a moment they chose to let go of their confidence!   After Siddharth was shown the pavilion by Dwayne Smith, a parade of New Jersey batsmen followed with nobody barring Roshan Sheth hitting double figures.   For the first time, both Kiran Patel and Nasir Islam failed to get going.   The outcome of all of this was a tally of 108 - a total that was going to be hard to defend. 

The architect of the stranglehold was NY captain Barrington Bartley (3 for 13 from his 4 overs) but George Adams (14 runs from his spell) and Dwayne Smith (2 for 25 from his 4 overs) just tightened the noose.

New York Destroyers knew they just had to pace themselves but as dark clouds loomed overhead, they made sure that they would win the match even if D/L came into effect.   Dennis Evans departed early but Team USA's Akeem Dodson played a responsible knock of 45 runs and was supported by Zaheer Saffie (26) and the captain himself scored 28 not out to take New York past New Jersey.   A few minutes later, they were to find out who their opponents were going to be in the finals. 

The Challengers entered the semi-finals of the Radiant Info USA Twenty20 as the only unbeaten team in the tournament and if there was one team that was capable of pulling off an upset, it was the New England Pioneers outfit. The Pioneers’ unpredictable yet explosive batting line-up had just upended the Daredevils and it was going to be interesting to see if the Pioneers could pull off this feat one more time.

The Challengers won the toss and elected to bat again - hoping to repeat the formula from the morning session. Qayyam Farooq and Gonzales started in their usual style - notching up 35 runs in 4 overs before Timmy Thomas had Gonzales caught by Nikolai Charles for 18 off 15 balls. He followed up this act by getting danger-man Dhaniram lbw for 2. The sudden loss of 2 wickets seemed to impede the Challengers as Tony Powell and Qayyam Farooq slowly set out to re-build the innings. The duo managed to keep the scoreboard ticking with ones and twos and after a few overs started accelerating reaching 88 in 12 overs. Powell subsequently fell to Nikolai Charles - the only spinner in the tournament who could give McGarrell and Nandalal a run for their money. He also accounted for Qayyam Farooq (39 off 38 balls) and Sean Stanislaus (6 of 6 balls.). Pioneers skipper Fazal Alam had his counterpart McGarrell lbw for a first-ball duck and he scalped two more wickets as the Challengers ended up with 142 for 8 - a decent total - but one that was sub-par by Challenger standards. Nikolai Charles and Fazal Alam were the pick of Pioneers bowlers with 3 wickets each.
 
If the Pioneers could repeat the batting heroics of the morning’s match, they had a chance of reaching this tough but gettable target and openers Sharaz Baksh and Shahid Shahzad did exactly that with a rollicking opening stand of 49 runs in 6 overs. McGarrell’s plans of opening with a spin attack of Sean Stanislaus and Dhaniram were effectively blunted by the Pioneer duo and they looked to take the game away from the Challengers. Sensing the urgency, McGarrell brought himself on and he immediately castled Shahzad gone after having scored 25 off 16 runs. Sean Stanislaus complimented his captain as he tempted Sharaz Baksh into a catch in the deep. McGarrell put the clueless Chad Munroe out of his misery with an lbw decision for a 12-ball duck. This juncture included a maiden over by Nandalal - a rarity at this stage of a twenty20 game.

McGarrell gained revenge for his earlier dismissal by taking out his counterpart Fazal Alam for 15. Timmy Thomas and Mohammed Ali briefly showed signs of a fightback but the Challengers bowler Sean Thompson squelched each challenge with a timely wicket. The equation at the final stage was 46 runs off 4 overs and this was definitely in the realms of possibility given that Lakshman Sanichar - the hero from the morning’s match was yet to bat. However, Sean Thompson had other plans as he had Sanichar bowled for 7 and cleaned up the rest of the Pioneers tail to take the Challengers home to the finals. Sean Thompson was awarded the man of the match for his five-wicket haul and Shahid Shahzad and Sharaz Baksh shared the batting honors for the Pioneers team. While the Pioneers upset march finally came to an end against a very strong Challengers team, they can take pride from the fact that they provided some of the best batting highlights for the tournament.