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USA Cricketer
March 2012 - Posts
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Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook. Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket
By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)
Player Grades
Sushil Nadkarni – C: The captain was USA’s leading
run getter in the tournament with 187 runs and had a high score of 59
against Oman. He was USA’s top scorer in four games (Uganda, Oman,
Kenya, Bermuda). However, his string of three consecutive ducks against
Italy, Namibia and Ireland crippled the team’s chances in those games.
He got a good ball against Italy, but hooking to deep square leg on his
second ball against Namibia was not something you’d expect out of a
senior player and neither was the way he ran himself out against
Ireland.
 As
a captain, he was hamstrung because the team didn’t have enough
preparation ahead of the tournament to figure out which bowlers would be
best suited for certain roles such as bowling at the death. There’s
nothing wrong with trying to think outside the box but some of the
batting lineups were bizarre. Having Abhimanyu Rajp coming in at number
three against Ireland was something straight out of Ripley’s, but one
suspects the coaching staff had more to do with that than Nadkarni.
Image (right) - Sushil Nadkarni in action against Kenya. [Courtesy: ICC/Thusith Wijedoru]
Steven Taylor – B-: The youngest player on the team
was quiet in the first three games in the tournament, but started to
click against Ireland and from then on was one of USA’s best batsmen. He
finished second on the team in runs with 179 at a strike rate of
117.76. He had plenty of good starts, but never reached 50. However, his
top score of 40 came in USA’s win over Scotland, the biggest upset of
the tournament.
He was also involved in USA’s best two partnerships of the
tournament, teaming with Aditya Mishra on each occasion to score 78 for
the first wicket against Scotland and 64 for the third wicket against
Namibia. He used to struggle at junior level with carrying on after
making a start but erased those issues at the ICC U-19 World Cup
Qualifier in Ireland with a pair of centuries. He needs to focus on
doing the same thing at the senior level. He also could have probably
had a better time with the bat had he not been thrust into the
wicketkeeper role by the second match. Taylor played six matches behind
the stumps, taking four catches and completing two stumpings during the
tournament but unless he shows significant improvement with the gloves
he should really be playing as a specialist batsman.
Aditya Mishra – B: The vice-captain led the team in
the group stage with 155 runs and finished third overall on the team at
the qualifier with 169 runs, including two half-centuries. In the field,
he dropped a sharp chance offered by Davis Arinaitwe of Uganda on the
first day that had a major impact on the game and sometimes took poor
routes to the ball trying to cut off runs, but took three catches
overall in the tournament.
 In
some matches, he looked imperious and brimming with confidence at the
crease. In others, he looked tentative and fidgety, which unsurprisingly
led to two runouts, not to mention two more he had in the warm-up games
ahead of the tournament. There was no middle ground. It usually only
took one over to gauge which Mishra was at the crease in a given match.
Image (left) - Aditya Mishra during his match-winning 62 against Scotland. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]
In the matches against Italy, Namibia and Scotland, the first Mishra
appeared and carried the team just short of victory on two occasions. On
the third, he scored 62 to lead USA to their best win of the
tournament. It is worth noting though that he was the beneficiary of
drops in the field in all three of those matches, but managed to make
the most of the second chances. Nerves mysteriously seemed to get the
better of him in the other five games. For that reason he was arguably
USA’s most compelling and confounding player on tour.
Orlando Baker – C+: Given more responsibility with
the bat than he had under Steve Massiah’s captaincy in July at the 2011
ICC Americas Division One Twenty20, Baker contributed a few good knocks
against Italy and Namibia before playing a crucial support role to
Mishra in the late stage of the chase against Scotland. His best score
though was 39 against Bermuda, a disappointing stat considering the
starts he got in several games. He finished with 130 runs in nine
innings, one of only four USA batsmen to break past 100 at the
qualifier.
With the ball, Baker took five wickets at an average of 20, which was
the second best average on the team behind Ghous. His bowling was only
used in four matches though. His strike rate of 15.6 was the best on the
team for any bowler with a minimum of one over per team match. It could
have been better had three catches not been dropped off his bowling,
but he also dropped two chances and took no catches at the tourney. He
has a knack for taking wickets and his bowling could have come in handy
in some other games but it appeared Nadkarni wanted to keep him fresh
for when it came time to bat.
Nauman Mustafa – F: For several years, Mustafa has
been one of the best batsmen on the domestic scene, but he failed when
it came time to transition his game to the international stage. Had
there been a USACA Twenty20 National Tournament in January as originally
scheduled, the North West Region had selected a squad in which they
dropped Mustafa yet he was brought into the USACA selection camp that
took place in Florida instead of the tournament. While it was felt there
wasn’t much difference between the standard of keeping between him and
incumbent Akeem Dodson, Mustafa’s batting is held in higher esteem than
Dodson’s and that helped Mustafa earn selection as USA’s first-choice
wicketkeeper heading into the tour.
This proved to be a major error in judgment by the selectors,
especially since Dodson had won the Best Wicketkeeper Award at the 2011
ICC Americas Twenty20 Division One tournament in July. Mustafa was
making his debut at 37, not exactly ripe for a wicketkeeper and it
showed on the first day against Uganda. With just 123 runs to defend,
every run mattered in the field but Mustafa gave away at least 10 behind
the stumps through byes and other misfields.
He was promptly dropped for the next game against Italy, then
recalled for the Namibia match where he was selected as a specialist
batsman at number three and scored 0 off 4 balls driving loosely in the
air to cover, the same way he got out against Uganda for 13 off 19 balls
coming in at number five. When he was a fielder not behind the stumps,
he wasn’t exactly fleet of foot. He scored 6 off 15 at number six
playing as a specialist batsman against Ireland, then had another two
matches on the bench before wearing the gloves against Scotland. He did
an adequate job, taking three catches. Two days later against Bermuda,
Mustafa scored 9 not out from 3 deliveries at number seven but had a
sloppy performance behind the stumps in the first few overs in the
field, an easy reminder as to why Taylor had taken over the gloves for
most of the tournament. Mustafa was then dropped again for the final day
against Hong Kong.
 Before
the tour began, USACA Cricket Committee chairman Ahmed Jeddy told
DreamCricket.com, “We expect a good result,” when asked what he thought
of the team’s chances in the qualifier. “Winning it and qualifying for
the World Cup is a good result for us.” If the mindset was to try and
win now, then perhaps selecting Mustafa for the tournament was worth a
gamble.
Image (right) - Nauman Mustafa, seen here against Scotland,
entered the tour as USA's first choice wicketkeeper, but only wore the
gloves in three of USA's nine matches at the qualifier. [Courtesy:
ICC/Ian Jacobs]
However, halfway through the tournament after the team had lost its
first four games in Group B, Jeddy told the Associated Press, “I really
don’t care what the results of this tournament will be. I want people to
look at this team in two years.” If this team was being selected with
the future in mind, to groom players and get them experience to set them
up for the next few years, 24-year-old Dodson should have been in the
team and not been dropped in favor of Mustafa. Dodson didn’t set the
world on fire with the bat playing for USA last July in Florida, but he
couldn’t have done much worse than Mustafa did with the bat or gloves in
the UAE.
Going back to the ICC Americas tournament in July, Mustafa was
selected in the original 14-man squad before the administration
intervened to remove him in favor of Nadkarni. The coaching staff in the
UAE showed little faith in his wicketkeeping after the first match and
he never had a clearly defined role afterward, batting in four different
positions in his four innings at the tournament. Those things weren’t
his fault. USA’s wicketkeeper position has been poorly handled over the
last two years and the indecisiveness over who should be in the role
both before and during the tour cost the team badly in the UAE.
Ryan Corns – C-: Corns scored 10 off 12 balls and
took 1 for 27 in the field against Uganda before sitting out the next
three matches with a groin injury. He had initially been ruled out for
the rest of the tournament, but came back to play against Oman and
played every match the rest of the way. However, he was clearly not
100%. He only came to the crease three more times after the first game
but was a disappointment overall with the bat, scoring 27 runs at an
average of 9.00.
Despite his problems with the bat, he showed great promise with the
ball, taking four wickets in 13 overs at an average of 25.25 and an
economy rate of 7.76. That might not sound special, but Corns was one of
the bowlers who suffered through a series of drops, with three catches
put down off his bowling including a key chance against Uganda that
Taylor misjudged coming in from the long on boundary.
Corns took a step back with the bat in the UAE, but a step forward
with the ball. Once he gets the balancing act right, he will be a very
handy all-rounder for USA at the senior level just as he was at the
Under-19 level.
Adil Bhatti – D: Bhatti scored 34 not out off 11
balls in the final warm-up game against Denmark and also took five
wickets in three warm-up games, including 4 for 38 against Namibia. But
when the live matches got underway he only bowled five overs and took
just one wicket which came in his first over of the first game against
Uganda. His 21 in that match was also his top score for the tournament.
He added just 54 runs in seven innings after that. Five of his eight
innings came at number seven but he struggled in the position, whether
he was tasked with trying to give USA a late innings surge or helping
rebuild when the team was in trouble.
On most days, his fielding was good, not great, as he typically
patrolled either the midwicket or cover boundary. He finished with three
catches, but also had three drops although one of them was a tough
chance against Namibia where he did well just to get to the ball. Bhatti
typically demonstrated a positive attitude in everything he did. His
effort never seemed to waver and he consistently tried his best. At this
level though, trying isn’t good enough. His number one priority should
be to sharpen his batting.
 Elmore Hutchinson – C+:
Team management seemed confused how best to utilize Hutchinson
throughout the tournament. He batted at four different positions (three,
six, eight and nine). On the bowling side, he opened, came on at first
change, but was also the fifth, sixth and seventh bowling option used
depending on the match.
Image (left) - Elmore Hutchinson celebrates the dismissal of
Ireland's Paul Stirling, who was the number one scorer at the ICC World
Twenty20 Qualifier. [Courtesy: ICC/Barry Chambers]
Despite all the shuffling around, he finished with six wickets, tied
for third on the team with Usman Shuja. His best performance came
against Ireland when he took 3 for 22, including the wickets of Paul
Stirling and Gary Wilson, for the best figures of a USA bowler in any
match at the qualifier. He then top scored in the second innings with 29
at number nine. He was also a crucial player in the match against
Scotland, taking 1 for 10 in two overs before scoring 19 off 20 balls at
number three in USA’s successful chase. Hutchinson was adequate in the
field, but did have two drops. He’s still a bit unpolished, but showed
signs that he could be a solid contributor in future tournaments both
for his bowling and batting.
Asif Khan – D: He was supposed to be USA’s frontline
spinner, but only managed to take one wicket in 17 overs during the
qualifier. That sole wicket came in his very first over of the event
against Uganda. His main problem on tour was trying to find consistency.
He only bowled one over against Italy in which two boundaries were hit
off him. Against Namibia, he was hit for four boundaries in his first
over, but then came back and bowled a maiden in his second spell.
Against Ireland he went for 10 runs in his first two overs, then 25 in
his next two.
In his last match of the tournament, he took 0 for 24 against
Scotland and had Scotland’s top scorer, Jan Stander, dropped off his
bowling. After the chance was put down, Khan applauded Muhammad Ghous
for putting in a sliding effort. Khan then grinned and shook his head as
if to say, “Nothing’s going my way.” He still managed to finish second
in economy rate for USA with 7.23 runs per over, but his inability to
take wickets resulted in him being dropped for the final two games.
With the bat, Khan topped USA’s averages on tour with 42 runs at
42.00. This came primarily from his 35 not out off 29 balls at number
six against Italy when he nearly took the team across the line. He top
scored for USA that day, but struggled to get the ball away in the last
two overs and the team eventually lost by eight runs. Curiously though,
Khan was not one of the nine batsmen used the next day against Namibia
at a time when USA could have definitely used him in their chase. He
came in at number five against Scotland and was in the middle when the
winning runs were scored. Overall, it was a disappointing tour for Khan,
but hopefully he will bounce back for USA at ICC WCL Division Four.
 Abhimanyu Rajp – B+:
Rajp entered the tour behind Khan and Ghous in the spin bowling pecking
order and sat on the bench for day one against Uganda. After a
reshuffle for day two against Italy, he made his debut and took a wicket
on his very first delivery, setting the tone for the rest of his time
in the tournament. While he never had a big haul, Rajp was USA’s most
consistent performer with the ball and finished tied for the team lead
with 10 wickets at an average of 21.90.
Image (right) - Abhimanyu Rajp bowling against Scotland. Rajp
tied for the team lead with 10 wickets at the ICC World Twenty20
Qualifier. [Courtesy: ICC/Ian Jacobs]
His fielding was usually sharp. He took six catches, the most of any
player on the team at the tournament including wicketkeepers. Three of
them were off his own bowling. Rajp was also decent with the bat. His 59
runs were the seventh most on the team and came at an average of 11.80.
He nearly pulled off a stunning win against Italy after hitting a four
and six off the first two balls of the final over before USA fell short
by eight runs.
The only noticeable drawback in his game was a tendency to try to buy
wickets. He averaged 1.00 boundary or six conceded per over, the
highest rate on the team for bowlers with a minimum of nine overs (one
over per team game) at the qualifier compared to 2.31 dot balls per
over, which was fifth on the team for bowlers with a minimum of nine
overs. These are minor adjustments he can make but he should be an even
bigger contributor for USA in 50-over cricket when ICC WCL Division Four
comes around.
Usman Shuja – C+: Stood out as being USA’s fittest
player on tour, Shuja has perhaps the most professional approach to the
game of any player on the team and as a result is also one of the most
durable players USA has had for the last several years. He was one of
only four players on the team to play all nine matches at the qualifier,
which is even more remarkable because he’s an opening pace bowler.
 He
was wicketless in the first three games, but started to hit his stride
against Ireland, taking 1 for 16 in three overs. He was named Man of the
Match for his spell of 4-1-9-1 against Oman, even though Nadkarni
scored a half-century in the first innings. His best figures came
against Scotland, with 3 for 39 in the team’s upset win although it
could have been 4 for 35 if not for a drop on the last ball of the
innings. Shuja also had another chance put down off his bowling on the
last day against Hong Kong.
Image (left) - Usman Shuja in his delivery stride vs. Ireland. [Courtesy: ICC/Barry Chambers]
Overall he took six wickets, tied with Hutchinson for third on the
team but his average of 33.16 and strike rate of 27.30 were ahead of
only Bhatti and Khan. He bowled two of USA’s four maidens and his 2.78
dot balls per over was the best rate of any bowler for USA at the
qualifier, but he also conceded 0.99 boundaries or sixes per over, the
second highest rate behind Rajp for bowlers with a minimum of one over
per team game.
Shuja should have been batting at number eight and definitely not
lower than nine. After scoring 8 not out and 8 in the first two matches
coming in at nine and eight, Shuja was hardly seen again on the batting
side until he scored 14 at number nine on the final day against Hong
Kong. He was underutilized in this regard, but the coaching staff was
keen to try out different combinations. Shuja will continue to be a key
player in the next few years as USA rebuilds in an attempt to climb back
up the Associate ladder.
Muhammad Ghous – B+: After two subpar tournaments in
2011, Ghous bounced back in a big way in the UAE and was arguably USA’s
standout bowler on tour. He tied for the team lead in wickets with 10
and had USA’s best economy rate of 6.00 runs per over. He bowled the
most dot balls at the tournament for USA with 83 and had the second most
dot balls per over for bowlers with a minimum of one over per team game
with 2.59 behind Shuja’s 2.78. He also had the team’s lowest rate of
boundaries or sixes allowed per over with 0.63, well below just about
everyone else, a sign that he bowled very few loose deliveries and that
teams struggled to get him away all tournament.
Ghous’ fielding was hit or miss. He was given more opportunities to
field inside the circle on this tour especially after Corns was injured
in the first game. When he was at point, Ghous was very active and did
well to save runs by diving and throwing his body around. He was even
involved in a run out while fielding at point in the Scotland game.
Curiously though, he doesn’t always show the same desperation to save
runs while fielding on the boundary. He looks particularly disinterested
when fielding at third man or long leg on the boundary and in general
is slow to react to the ball off the bat when fielding anywhere along
the rope. That seems to be the only flaw in his game, but one that can
be corrected with better habits developed at club level.
Japen Patel – Incomplete: Patel joined the tour as
an injury replacement for Gowkaran Roopnarine and wound up playing four
games. He took 3 for 29 against Oman, the worst batting side at the
tournament and the only team to go winless in the group stage. He was
rocked for 19 runs in his only over against Kenya and 17 runs in his
only over against Hong Kong, a more accurate reflection of his bowling
abilities. He bowled 36 legal deliveries in the tournament and 33% of
them were hit to or over the boundary.
He also looked out of his depth on the batting side, scoring 11 runs
in three innings. He had two drops in the field against one catch. If he
is going to make it in the side in the future, it has to be with his
batting but he needs a ton of work to improve.
Andy Mohammed – Incomplete: Was the reserve batsman on tour. Despite
early injuries to Corns and Roopnarine, Mohammed wound up playing only
two games at the qualifier. He scored 18 not out off 18 balls at number
six against Namibia. He entered in the 15th over at a time when the team
needed at least one boundary per over to stay in the chase, but
Mohammed struggled badly to get underneath the ball or get in a position
at the crease to try to clear the ropes and that seemed to doom his
chances of selection for the rest of the qualifier.
His only other game was against Kenya, where he came in at number
three and again struggled against their pace attack, scratching together
3 off 12 balls before getting out. He also had a drop in the field
later in that game. Mohammed’s frustrations probably grew when Patel,
who was not in the original squad, played ahead of him in the games
against Oman, Scotland and Hong Kong. It meant that USA was playing
three all-rounders (Baker, Bhatti, Patel), two of which were barely used
for their bowling. However, based on his two performances, Mohammed is
another who needs to work very hard to improve his batting.
Gowkaran Roopnarine – Incomplete: Juicy was edged
out in the starting XI for the opening match by Steven Taylor. When he
got his first chance in the game against Italy, he promptly injured a
hamstring in the third over fielding on the boundary at third man. He
scored 2 off five balls coming in at number nine later in the loss
before being declared out of the tournament and replaced by Patel. It
was an unfortunate experience for a player who worked hard in the last
year to get back into the team.
Coming up in Part III - Looking ahead to ICC WCL Division Four
Click here to read Part I - Team Grades [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.]
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Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook. Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket
By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)
Team Grades
Batting – F: The team had just three half-centuries
but managed to rack up 12 ducks, the most for any team in the tournament. If
you think you’ve read that before somewhere, it’s because you have: USA’s report card for ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Hong Kong.
Nine of the 12 donuts came from recognized batsmen. USA’s highest
batting average at the tournament was from a bowler, Asif Khan with
42.00. There were only four half-century partnerships in the tournament,
three of which involved Aditya Mishra, two with Orlando Baker, two with
Steven Taylor and one with Sushil Nadkarni. When the top order failed,
there was next to no support down the order. USA only had four scores of
30+ from number four or lower while their opponents had seven.
 With
the exception of Steven Taylor, the youth brigade showed they were out
of their depth and need to work overtime just to achieve a decent
standard. As a consequence of that, the senior players were always under
immense pressure to perform and that burden weighed them down.
Image (right) - Aditya Mishra and Steven Taylor run between the
wickets during their 78-run opening stand vs. Scotland, USA's highest
partnership of the tournament. [Courtesy: ICC/Ian Jacobs]
USA ended the group stage with just three players who had 100 runs or
more and finished the tournament with no one crossing 200 on aggregate.
Only four other teams failed to have someone score 200+ runs in the
tournament: Italy, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Uganda. USA managed to
lose to two of those teams.
The running between the wickets was average, mainly due to the lack
of familiarity the players had with one another. Like so many other
things, if the squad had been established in autumn and given an
opportunity to play some games together before going off to the UAE, the
chemistry in this regard would have been better. USA’s seven runouts
were tied for the third most in the tournament with Kenya and Bermuda,
trailing only Nepal with nine and Uganda with 10. None of those teams
finished in the top three of their respective groups. Namibia and
Scotland had the fewest runouts committed with three and they finished
first and third in Group B respectively.
USA's most glaring problems on the batting side came from the number
three and seven batting positions. USA's number three position averaged
10.33 during the tournament, the worst out of any position in the top
six. That was mainly boosted by Sushil Nadkarni's 48 against Bermuda in
the 11th place semifinal. In seven Group B matches, USA's number three
produced scores of 7, 1, 0, 6, 8, 3 and 19 for an average of 6.29. Six
different players were given opportunities in the position during the
tournament, but with the exception of Nadkarni against Bermuda, none of
them had success.
Similiarly, the number seven position is crucial in Twenty20 cricket
for finishing the innings with a flourish or being a stabilizer when
things have gone haywire but neither happened in the UAE. USA's number
seven position averaged 8.67 in the tournament with scores of 21, 5, 4,
2, 7*, 4, 9* and 0. It was USA's second worst average at any position in
the tournament behind number eight's average contribution of 7.71. Four
different players were tried at number seven, but hardly any success
was achieved.
Bowling – C+: Of the three disciplines, this is the
one USA can usually depend on to keep them in matches and give them the
best chance of winning. But collectively on this tour, they turned in an
average performance. USA took 34 wickets in seven group games, tied for
11th along with Oman and Papua New Guinea, though they were hurt badly
by the fielders behind them. The only bowling attacks that were less
incisive during the group stage were Hong Kong, Bermuda and Denmark.
Many players were able to get good 30s and 40s against USA, but only
four half-centuries were scored against USA.
USA was fairly good at getting early breakthroughs. The opening
partnerships for the opposition in each match went for 1, 6, 49, 4, 0,
55, 0, 23 and 10. However, when a partnership got going in the middle
overs they found it hard to not only get a wicket but struggled to
contain teams. The opposition was able to put together seven
half-century partnerships. Five of those came in stands for the third
(56 vs. Namibia, 82 vs. Bermuda, 64 vs. Hong Kong) or fourth wicket (86
vs. Ireland, 54 vs. Scotland) during middle over periods. Muhammad Ghous
had USA’s best economy rate at 6.00 runs per over, meaning no one on
USA could hold the opposition to less than a run a ball.
Fielding – D: As usual, fielding held USA back. USA
committed no less than 16 drops and missed two clear runout chances.
Each missed chance cost them an average of 18.6 runs. So the opposition
wound up gaining an extra 37.2 runs per game off of missed chances by
USA. Conversely, USA’s opponents gave them 12 let offs that cost an
average of 17.0 runs. So USA was getting an extra 22.6 runs per game off
each miss. When you put that against the chances they gave, USA had a
net of -14.6 runs per game they conceded to the opposition just based on
missed chances. That does not include misfields along the ground by
fielders and byes conceded by the wicketkeepers. The wicketkeeping role
was a problem all tour after the first choice keeper Nauman Mustafa was
yanked following a costly game behind the stumps on the first day
against Uganda.
It was that Uganda match in which fielding came back to haunt USA
most. Ben Musoke was dropped on 8 with the score at 34 for 3 in 9.1
overs and made 17. Davis Arinaitwe was dropped on 1 with the score at 47
for 4 in 10.5 overs and made 27 not out to become Man of the Match as
Uganda reached the target of 124 to win by four wickets with four balls
to spare. Arinaitwe only made 37 runs in the group stage and just 67 in
the entire tournament, but 26 of them came after he was dropped against
the USA.
USA pulled off three runouts in the field in their first two games,
but only one in their last seven, a clear indication that they were
becoming slower and slower to react off the ball the longer the
tournament wore on. Their four runouts in the field tied with Kenya for
13th in the tournament. Oman and Ireland had three, but Ireland’s
catching was sharp and their bowlers took the most wickets in group play
with 56 so they were always applying a tremendous amount of pressure in
the field. Namibia, who finished Group B undefeated, had the most
runouts in the field with 12, four more than the next best team, Canada,
who also made the knockout stage.
The NFL keeps track of turnover ratio as a good indicator of a team’s
success due to not making mistakes on offense versus forcing mistakes
on defense. If one were to look at runout ratio in a similar way as a
stat in this tournament, USA’s runout ratio of -3 (seven runouts while
batting, only four in the field) was tied with Kenya for 14th in the
tournament. Only Uganda was worse with -4. Five teams were in positive
territory: Namibia (+9), Scotland (+4), PNG (+3), Canada (+2),
Netherlands (+1). The only one not to make the knockout stage from that
group was PNG, who finished eighth.
Fitness – D: A factor in the team’s poor fielding
standards was their fitness. USACA Cricket Committee chairman Ahmed
Jeddy said before the tour that, “We are not going to be outrun by every
Tom, *** and Harry.” Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
As noted in the last section, USA had three runouts in the field in
the first two games, but pulled off just one in the last seven. Ten of
USA’s 18 missed chances in the field happened in their final three
matches against Scotland, Bermuda and Hong Kong. They were usually on
their heels and slow to react to the ball off the bat. Several catches
went down on the boundary because of poor reads, but others were dropped
from lethargic efforts in getting to the ball.
USA captain Nadkarni commented after the loss to Hong Kong that his
strategy for giving the team a chance to win on that day was to win the
toss and bat so that they wouldn’t have to spend 20 overs getting tired
in the field before chasing a target. They lost the toss and had to
field first, dropping four chances as Hong Kong posted 177 for 4. USA
was then smoked by the pace of Aizaz Khan, all out for 100.
It was a long tour for USA, but all teams at the tournament were in
the same boat in regards to the number of matches that had to be played.
Several traveling party members talked up the team’s youth ahead of the
tour and how much energy it would bring. In several places it was
spoken or reported that USA’s average age was 27. The fact is that USA’s
average age entering the first day of the tournament was 28.52. They
were the fourth oldest team in the tournament and it showed.
 However,
this is somewhat contradicted by the performance of Usman Shuja, who
somehow managed to gain steam and bowl better as the tournament wore on.
At the age of 33, Shuja was the third oldest player on the team but
routinely looked like he had more energy than most of the other younger
players out on the field.
Image (left) - Usman Shuja, seen bowling here against Scotland,
is consistently one of USA's fittest players on tour. [Courtesy: ICC/Ian
Jacobs]
The biggest reality check for where USA needs to be on the fitness
side of things comes from watching tournament champion Ireland. For
anyone who saw Ireland on the final day, they would know that it is
possible to stay full of energy through a grueling tournament. They had
been put through more punishment than any other team at the qualifier by
playing 11 matches in 12 days, including two on the last day against
Namibia and Afghanistan.
However, William Porterfield was constantly flying all over the place
and he was well supported by everyone else in the field. Ireland has
professionalism on their side though and for USA to achieve the same
standards in all aspects of the game they must find a way to do the same
or else another 12th place finish is about what USA can expect the next time
this qualifier happens.
Coming up in Part II - Individual Grades
[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.]
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USACA announced
the 'executive board nominees' for the election to be held on April 14,
2012. This latest announcement follows two recent developments that
are expected to play a major role in this election.
Following a board meeting on February 26, 2012, thirty three leagues
were deemed ineligible to vote in this election as a result of a
‘compliance review.’
 The second development is the audacious immediate offer
of $2000 'administrative grant' to each of the fifteen leagues recently
certified by USACA as vote-eligible. This grant was announced just
days before the list of nominees was made public.
Thanks to these recent developments, it is now widely believed that Gladstone Dainty (picture at right) is a shoo-in for another three-year term as President.
If Dainty wins, he will be in the driver’s seat for two organizations
that will shape the destiny of USA cricket. DreamCricket.com just
received a document this week in which Gladstone Dainty is listed as the
Chairman of Cricket Holdings America LLC.
Ram Varadarajan, Kenwyn Williams and Mahammad Qureshi are all in the
presidential race as expected. All had announced their candidacy some
months ago. A notable surprise is that the name of Nabeel Ahmed is
missing from the list of nominees. Ahmed’s campaign issued a press
release as recently as March 6 in which he called himself ‘a concerned
cricket fan and presidential candidate.’
Five candidates are in the fray for First Vice President including
three members of the outgoing board - Ahmed Jeddy, Krish Prasad and
Michael Gale. Mahammad Qureshi and Shahid Ahmed are the remaining two
candidates. It is interesting to note that both Ahmed Jeddy and Michael
Gale are from the Central West region.
For the Second Vice President too, there are five candidates. Ahmed
Jeddy is in the reckoning for this post along with the incumbent - Rafey
Syed. The remaining three candidates are North West’s Hemant Buch,
Mahammad “MAQ” Qureshi and Charles Peterson.
For secretary, the candidates are John Aaron and Kenwyn Williams.
John Aaron served as Secretary until he was suspended after criticising
Dainty in an article that appeared on several websites. He
subsequently resigned from his post. His opponent Mr. Williams recently
sent out an email offering a free iPad3 to first ‘10 of the 15 league
presidents that can vote.’
In September 2011, John Thickett told ESPN CricInfo: "The
organization is going very much from a mom and pop to much more of a
real organization. The national organization has to become more
efficient and get better administrators involved in different activities
and roles.” Thickett’s wish may have been granted for his own spot.
Running against him is Professor Gangaram Singh, who is Associate Dean
for Academic Affairs at San Diego State University.
Here is the list of nominees announced by USACA:
President: Gladstone Dainty, Kenwyn Williams, Mahammad Qureshi, Rammohan Varadarajan
1st Vice President: Ahmed Jeddy, Krish Prasad, Mahammad Qureshi, Michael Gale, Shahid Ahmed
2nd Vice President: Ahmed Jeddy, Charles Peterson, Hemant Buch, Mahammad Qureshi, Rafey Syed
Executive Secretary: John Aaron, Kenwyn Williams
Treasurer: Gangaram Singh, John Thickett Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Michael
Gale and Ahmed Jeddy are both from the Central West Region and not the
South West Region.
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By Peter Della Penna in Dubai (on Twitter)
Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
Hong Kong fast bowler Aizaz Khan nipped USA’s chase in the bud with a
fiery spell of fast bowling to take 5 for 25 as Hong Kong defeated USA
by 77 runs in the 11th place match at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20
Qualifier in the UAE. Aizaz was named Man of the Match after helping his
side bowl out USA for 100, completing just the third five-wicket haul
of the tournament. USA finishes the tournament in 12th place with three
wins in nine games while Hong Kong ends it in 11th place with four wins
from nine matches.
“Coming into this game, I realized the toss would be a real important
factor,” said USA captain Sushil Nadkarni after the loss. “I lost the
toss today… and we were looking to bat first. Unfortunately we were put
into the field. I thought that that played into our weakness for this
game a little bit because the guys were really feeling tired right now
and we had to get into the field and field 20 overs before coming to
chase a big total. We really wanted to win but the best team came out on
top today.”
Hong Kong won the toss and batted first. USA made one change to the
starting XI from the previous match against Bermuda. Japen Patel
returned to the lineup in favor of Nauman Mustafa, which meant Steven
Taylor kept wicket for the sixth time in the tournament.
Irfan Ahmed and Waqas Barkat opened the batting for Hong Kong,
putting on just 10 for the first wicket before Barkat was bowled by
Muhammad Ghous for 8. Barkat was trying to hit Ghous for his third
consecutive boundary by shuffling across his stumps to play a sweep but
was bowled behind his legs.
Ahmed was joined by Hong Kong captain Jamie Atkinson and the pair put
on 46 for the second wicket. Ahmed was dropped on 18 by Patel at long
on off the bowling of Ryan Corns on the first ball of the seventh over,
but Corns got Ahmed four balls later for 23 when he beat the batsman in
flight to have him stumped.
Meanwhile, Atkinson was enjoying his time at the opposite end as
USA’s spinners watched him sweep full deliveries off his pads all day
long without much fuss. Against pace, Atkinson received a steady diet of
short-pitched bowling that he also cross-batted to the leg side.
Atkinson received good support from Nizakat Khan and the two added 64
for the third wicket. Nizakat should have been caught for 9 by Nadkarni
at point in the 12th over, but survived to add another 23 runs.
Atkinson brought up his 50 in the 13th over, by which point he had hit
10 boundaries among his 30 deliveries faced. Only two of the 10 went
through the off side, with both of those going behind point.
Nizakat was finally caught on the cover boundary for 32 off the first
ball of the 15th over to make it 120 for 3. Roy Lamsam came in and took
only singles to try to give Atkinson as much strike as possible. The
captain hit two more boundaries, both through the leg side, before he
was finally bowled by Orlando Baker to give him his second wicket and
send Atkinson on his way for 63 to make it 135 for 4 on the first ball
of the 17th. Atkinson now leads the tournament in runs with 345,
including four half-centuries.
With Atkinson gone it appeared USA might be able to hold Hong Kong
under 160, but the fielding let them down yet again when the new man
Babar Hayat was dropped on 9 on a straightforward skied chance to Adil
Bhatti on the cover boundary off the bowling of Usman Shuja. Hayat
capitalized to help Hong Kong score 30 off the final 11 deliveries, with
23 of those runs coming off his own bat including two fours and two
sixes as Hong Kong finished on 177 for 4. Baker finished with 2 for 24
while Ghous took 1 for 12 in two to finish tied for the team lead in
wickets with Abhimanyu Rajp. Both players ended with 10 wickets although
Ghous played one more match than Rajp.
Taylor provided fireworks at the start of USA’s innings, tearing
medium pacer Max Tucker apart for four boundaries in the first over.
Aditya Mishra opened with him but succumbed to the second ball bowled by
Aizaz, a bouncer top-edged to the wicketkeeper Barkat, to make it 17
for 1 in the second over. Taylor tried to take back control for USA in
the third, launching Nizakat’s second ball over long on for a massive
six. Once a replacement ball was brought out, Nizakat changed angles to
come around the wicket and dismissed Taylor with his very next delivery,
getting the left-hander to come prodding forward and a simple catch was
taken behind the stumps by Barkat to dismiss Taylor for 26 in 12 balls
making it 28 for 2.
 Once
Taylor was gone, Aizaz set about ripping up the stumps from the
opposite end. Nadkarni tried to flick him through midwicket and was
bowled for 1. Three balls later, Patel went for a heave and was cleaned
up for 4 to finish the fourth over at 35 for 4.
Image (right) - ICC Match Referee David Jukes presents Aizaz Khan
with his Man of the Match award. [Courtesy: Peter Della
Penna/DreamCricket]
Two overs later, Baker played across the line and was bowled by Aizaz
for 9 to make it 42 for 5. Nizakat took his second in the seventh,
trapping Bhatti in front for a second-ball duck to make it 43 for 6.
Aizaz came back to finish his opening spell in the eighth and completed
his five-for with a picture perfect yorker to send Elmore Hutchinson
back to the pavilion without scoring and USA was 45 for 7.
“I think it goes back to just having proper programs,” said Nadkarni.
“There are lots of ways to prepare for fast bowling. You can use
bowling machines to prepare for that. You can actually get into the nets
and have guys bowling from 18 yards instead of 22 yards. There are
different ways to prepare for fast bowling but I don’t think we have
programs in place, neither do we have turf wickets, the kind of wickets
we’re playing over here, all across the US. So the guys, it’s a new
experience playing really quick bowling backed up by really good
fielding. So overall I’m not too disappointed.”
Corns got a genuine opportunity to spend some time in the middle for
the first time since the opening match against Uganda but failed to
capitalize. He entered to start the fifth over at the fall of the fourth
wicket, but got into a dreadful mixup with Shuja and wound up being run
out for 9. Corns attempted to take a leg bye off the bowling of Ahmed
and both batsmen wound up halfway down the track before freezing. Ahmed
fielded off his own bowling and tossed the ball underhanded into the
stumps at the striker’s end to get rid of Corns for 9 and it was 58 for 8
in the 10th.
USA’s best two partnerships of the match were then produced for the
ninth and 10th wickets. Shuja and Rajp put on 20 before Shuja was caught
slogging leg-spinner Kai Ming Li to deep midwicket for 14. Rajp and
Ghous put on 22 before Nizakat had Rajp stumped for 19, USA’s second
best score of the innings as USA was bundled out for 100 in 16.2 overs.
While Aizaz stole the show with the ball, Nizakat also ended with solid
figures of 3 for 11 in 3.2 overs.
USA’s next scheduled tournament action is ICC World Cricket League
Division Four, which was originally due to be held in Florida this May
but has now been pushed back to sometime later in the year at a site to
be determined. Nadkarni says he hopes the players will have gained some
valuable experience from their time in the UAE that they can put to good
use at Division Four.
“We feel like we have a bunch of guys in this team that are young,
that have gained this experience, and having Robin Singh working with us
was invaluable,” said Nadkarni. “The stuff he taught us or wanted us to
execute on the ground, that’s something all of us really didn’t know
how to play Twenty20 cricket and the things he taught us have helped us
kind of understand how the game is progressing and where we need to
execute what strategies. All these things, it’s a great thing for the
future because now we take the same team and we build it for Division
Four.”
Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
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By Peter Della Penna in Sharjah (on Twitter)
Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
USA’s top four contributed 139 of the team’s 193 runs to bat Bermuda
out of the game in a 34-run win on Thursday at the 2012 ICC World
Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE. USA captain Sushil Nadkarni was named Man
of the Match after top scoring at number three with 48 off 30 balls
including two fours and four sixes. USA now plays Hong Kong in the 11th
place playoff match on Friday after Hong Kong defeated Uganda by five
wickets. Bermuda and Uganda will meet in the 13th place playoff on
Friday.
“Today we wanted to come in and bat the opposition out of the game,”
said Nadkarni after the win. “Yesterday we were talking as a team and we
wanted in the next two games to do two things. One is try to score 200
runs or get the opposition out under 100 runs. We challenged the team to
see if we could do it and luckily the wicket today was a fantastic
batting wicket.”
USA won the toss and elected to bat first with Nadkarni and Adil
Bhatti returning to the starting XI in place of Japen Patel and Asif
Khan. On a pristine batting track in Sharjah, USA put their foot on the
accelerator from the first over and never let up.
Rather than pencil himself in as an opener once again after returning
to the lineup following a match off, Nadkarni chose to leave USA’s
successful opening partnership from the Scotland match of Steven Taylor
and Aditya Mishra match intact. Taylor hit four sixes in five deliveries
between the second and third overs bowled by off-spinners Curt Stovell
and Rodney Trott and at the end of three overs USA had 36 on the board.
Taylor scored 38 out of a 49-run partnership with Mishra before slicing
an edge against off-spinner Joshua Gilbert to Stovell at short third man
to end the fifth over.
 Nadkarni
came in and took over the big-hitting reins from Taylor, giving no
respite to Bermuda when he carted Gilbert for his first six in the
seventh over. Mishra got out in the eighth for 15, chipping a catch to
Bermuda captain David Hemp at midwicket off the bowling of another
off-spinner, Sam Robinson, to make it 67 for 2.
Image (right) - USA captain Sushil Nadkarni receives his Man of
the Match award from ICC match referee Adrian Griffith. [Courtesy: Peter
Della Penna/DreamCricket]
Orlando Baker came to the crease with Nadkarni and they continued to
plunder Bermuda’s spinners in a 62-run stand. When medium pace was
introduced in the 11th over, USA continued to show no mercy and two
overs later Nadkarni blasted Janeiro Tucker for back-to-back sixes in a
17-run over. Nadkarni top-edged the first ball he faced from
medium-pacer Kamau Leverock but the ball sailed over the wicketkeeper
for Nadkarni’s fourth six. The teenager got revenge two balls later when
Nadkarni chopped onto his stumps to make it 128 for 3 in the 14th.
Adil Bhatti scored 14 off nine balls before he was caught at deep
midwicket to give Trott his only scalp, making it 153 for 4 in the 17th.
Baker got out for 39 two overs later when he skied Robinson to long on,
turning the score to 175 for 5 with eight balls remaining.
Elmore Hutchinson and Nauman Mustafa struck three sixes between them
in their brief time in the middle to boost USA to 193 for 5. Robinson
finished with 2 for 41 to lead Bermuda in the wickets column, but
everyone in the attack was hit hard and no one conceded less than eight
runs per over.
Bermuda got off to a steady start with 42 runs in the first six overs
but lost both openers along the way. Stovell and Fiqre Crockwell were
dismissed by Muhammad Ghous and Abhimanyu Rajp for 4 and 23
respectively. Instead of the chase slowing down with the fall of two
early wickets, it gained momentum with Hemp and Lionel Cann at the
crease.
Cann was dropped in the fifth over on 5 at mid off by Baker and the
batsman didn’t let USA forget it for the rest of the innings. He opened
up a 12-run 10th over by slogging Rajp over long on, then started a
19-run 11th by launching Hutchinson down the ground and over the ropes
on back-to-back deliveries to take Bermuda to 93 for 1. Hemp joined the
fun in the 13th, hitting Mishra’s off-spin over extra cover and long off
for six on consecutive balls during a 16-run over to make it 117 for 2.
All of a sudden, 77 in seven overs looked very gettable on a flat deck
with two men set.
“Frankly speaking I was a little concerned at that point because I
thought the game was slipping away from us,” said Nadkarni. “The guys
could do much better in the field really. I thought when we came out to
defend a 190-total, it almost seemed like the guys had won the game in
their heads in the first few overs. We started making silly mistakes,
caught behinds and dropping easy catches and that allowed them to settle
in and like I said the wicket was a good batting wicket.”
Nadkarni tossed the ball to Rajp again in the 14th and the
off-spinner came through with his team-leading 10th wicket at the
tournament to end the partnership at 82. Hemp got a knee-high full toss
outside off that he tried to muscle over Taylor at long off but he
didn’t middle the ball and Taylor took a safe catch to get rid of Hemp
for 27, making the score 124 for 3 after 14.
Cann struggled to find support after Hemp got out and wickets
continued to fall regularly. Tucker lasted seven balls for his 5 before
he was bowled by Ryan Corns. Stephen Outerbridge was gone for 1, done in
by a slower ball from Usman Shuja, to make it 133 for 5 one ball into
the 17th. Trott ended the 18th by slogging Ghous to Mishra at cow corner
to depart for 6 and with two overs to go, Bermuda needed 52 to win.
Leverock came in and hit Shuja’s first ball in the 19th for six, but a
dot ball on the final delivery of the over ensured the match belonged
to USA. Leverock was eventually caught for 7 at deep midwicket by Rajp
off Hutchinson two balls into the final over before Cann was caught for
73 at long on by Taylor on the last ball of the innings as Bermuda
finished at 159 for 8.
Live coverage of USA’s 11th place match against Hong Kong from the
ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai will begin Friday at 5:45 a.m. EST.
DreamCricket.com’s tournament coverage is made possible in part by the
New Inning Foundation.
Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
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By Peter Della Penna in Dubai (on Twitter) Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
Stand-in captain Aditya Mishra scored 62 to lead a thrilling chase
for USA as they knocked off Scotland by 7 wickets on Tuesday at the 2012
ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai. Mishra was named Man of the
Match after notching USA’s highest individual score of the tournament
which included five boundaries and two sixes before he was run out on
the first ball of the final over with four needed to win.
“I just told myself it’s my day,” said Mishra after the win. “I never
believed that I’m not gonna get the USA through so I was a little
disappointed to get run out in the end but I envisioned this thing when I
was sitting in the dressing room. When I left from the hotel bus, I saw
myself winning this game.”
USA finishes Group B in sixth place at 2-5 with the same record as
Uganda but ahead of them on net run rate. Scotland ends at 4-3 with
Kenya but was seven thousandths of a point better than Kenya on net run
rate to wind up in third place and in the six-team playoffs for
qualification to the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.
Scotland won the toss and elected to bat first on a warm and dusty
day at the ICC Global Cricket Academy. USA made three changes to the
lineup, with captain Sushil Nadkarni resting while Adil Bhatti and Andy
Mohammed came out in favor of Mishra, Asif Khan and Nauman Mustafa, who
took over the gloves from Steven Taylor.
Usman Shuja got USA off to an outstanding start in the field with a
wicket maiden to open the match. On his fourth delivery to Richie
Berrington, he beat the batsman for pace with a short ball as an
attempted pull was skied behind the stumps where Mustafa took the catch.
Berrington’s fellow opener Calum MacLeod got off to a brisk start with
16 off his first nine balls, but when he tried to slog Muhammad Ghous
for a second six on his 10th delivery, he failed to middle the ball and
instead found Japen Patel at deep square leg to make it 21 for 2 on the
first ball of the fourth over.
Preston Mommsen came in at three and scored 21 at a run a ball
including four boundaries but he succumbed to Abhimanyu Rajp, driving
back a low return catch to give the off-spinner his team-leading eighth
wicket to make it 55 for 2 in the eighth over.
The loss of early wickets didn’t stem the aggressive charge made by
Scotland as they continued to try to bat USA out of the game. Jan
Stander and stand-in captain Kyle Coetzer put on 54 runs for the fourth
wicket, Scotland’s best partnership of the match. The pair took Scotland
to 89 for 3 in 10 overs after scoring 17 off Rajp’s second over in the
10th. Stander hit him for six on the second ball of the over and then
lofted him down the ground to long off on the fifth ball where
Hutchinson was in position for a possible catch but the ball burst
through his hands to go over the rope for six and take Stander to 47.
Stander was dropped again on 49 by Ghous running in from long off to
take him to his half-century in 24 balls and survived a run out chance
on 54 before his luck finally ran out. Ryan Corns bowled a full and wide
delivery that Stander tried to slog against the spin, resulting in
another top edge taken safely by Mustafa at silly point after jogging
out from behind the stumps to dismiss Stander for 58 on the first ball
of the 15th.
Saafyan Sharif came in and turned the over back Scotland’s way with a
four and a six off the side of the academy building and Scotland
finished the 15th at 122 for 4. USA did well to not let them race toward
180, only conceding 39 in the final 30 balls, aided by a steady stream
of wickets.
Coetzer was done in by a slower ball from Shuja, caught by Hutchinson
at long off for 19 to make it 131 for 5 at the end of the 16th. Sharif
was run out five balls later for 13 after a mixup with Fraser Watts.
Watts scooped a Hutchinson delivery to Mishra at cover to go for 5 with
the score at 147 in the 19th. Majid Haq hit a six first ball and was out
second ball edging behind to Mustafa off Shuja to make it 156 for 8
with two balls to go in the final over. Craig Wallace finished with 16
not out off 10 balls, hitting three fours including the final ball of
the innings which was dropped by Patel at deep midwicket before bouncing
over the rope to take Scotland to 161 for 8 in 20.
Shuja finished with USA’s best figures in the innings with 3 for 39
and it could have been 4 for 35 if not for the drop to end the innings.
Hutchinson bowled a key two-over spell at the end of the innings to
finish with 1 for 10. USA’s sloppy fielding cost them at least 20 runs,
but Scotland’s own woeful effort in the field more than compensated for
it in the end.
 With
Nadkarni sitting out, Mishra moved up to open with Taylor and they
produced USA’s best opening and overall stand of the tournament with 78
runs. The previous best was also between Taylor and Mishra when they put
on 64 for the third wicket against Namibia. Instead of USA falling
short like they did against Namibia, this time the partnership was
enough to catapult USA toward victory.
Image (right) - Aditya Mishra completes a drive down the ground
off Preston Mommsen in the 19th over to inch USA closer to victory.
Mishra was named Man of the Match for his 62, USA's best individual
score of the tournament. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]
The partnership was not without its nervy moments though. Mishra was
dropped on 1 four balls into the chase when he skied an attempted pull
off a short ball from Sharif toward Coetzer at midwicket. Coetzer ran
back to the edge of the circle and stuck two hands out before the ball
snuck through to hit the turf. Mishra would make Scotland regret it.
Just as Carl Wright guided USA’s successful chase over Scotland at the
2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier with 62 at the top of the order, it
was déjà vu for the Scots as Mishra duplicated the score from the same
position on Tuesday.
With Mustafa taking over the behind the stumps for USA in the field,
Taylor had plenty of energy at the crease and he used it to intimidate
Scotland with a series of menacing shots. Sharif tried to bounce him in
the third over but Taylor responded by muscling him over mid on for a
boundary. In the fourth, Taylor flicked Matthew Parker’s medium pace
over square leg for his third boundary and when Parker tried going
around the wicket, Taylor blasted his next ball over cover for another
four. USA was 35 for 0 after four overs. Both players showed they were
just as comfortable against spin with each player carting Mommsen for a
boundary in the fifth before Taylor blasted Haq for six over mid on to
take the total to 53 after six. At no point did USA’s run rate dip below
seven per over.
“In the first six overs we got a very good start. Steven Taylor I
think played fantastically well. It was good to see him score some runs
there and give us a very good start,” said Mishra. “It shows the
potential the guy has… I think he has tremendous and great talent. We
all believe that he is the future of US cricket.”
Taylor finally showed signs of slowing down in the eighth when he was
dropped on 37 by Sharif at deep midwicket off the bowling of Haq.
Scotland got Taylor in the next over when Stander made a bid for Man of
the Match by getting the 18-year-old clean bowled with a fuller delivery
to make it 78 for 1 in 9. Taylor ended with 40 off 30 balls, eclipsing
his previous high of the tournament when he scored 23 against another
ODI nation, Ireland.
Hutchinson came in at number three and didn’t skip a beat with
Mishra, putting on a 40-run stand. Hutchinson survived a missing run out
on 5, then a botched stumping on 10, but hung around long enough to
clear the ropes in a crucial 14th over against leg-spinner Moneeb Iqbal
which went for 17 runs. Whereas USA stumbled at the same stage of their
chases against Italy and Namibia, they took full control at this
juncture against Scotland. Hutchinson slogged the first ball for six
over long on before Mishra hopped down the track on the fourth ball to
lift Iqbal over long off.
Hutchinson finally fell on the first ball of the 15th, clean bowled
by a quicker delivery from Mommsen to make it 118 for 2. Orlando Baker
came in and gave tremendous support to Mishra right from the first ball.
Baker finished 21 not out off 13 balls and did not have a single dot
ball in his innings. With five singles taken off the first five balls of
the 16th, Baker hit a crucial boundary down the ground off Haq to
finish the over.
Mishra then started off the 17th with a top edged pull off Sharif
that cleared the keeper Wallace to bring up his second half-century of
the tournament in 42 balls. Three balls later, USA caught a break when
Baker drove to long off but a Parker misfield turned a single into a
boundary and USA’s equation stood at 22 from 20 balls for victory.
After Mishra hit Haq down the ground for his fifth boundary on the
fourth ball of the 18th over, it knocked the equation to less than a run
a ball for the first time in the chase as Scotland started to sweat
over net run rate calculations. If USA chased the target by scoring 162
in 19.4 overs, Kenya would finish third. After taking seven runs off the
19th, USA needed four runs to win in six balls.
Mishra was run out on the first ball trying to push a single to
cover, but Coetzer charged in and fired a direct hit to the
non-striker’s end to deny Mishra a chance to walk off unbeaten. Baker
took a single off the second ball to put Asif Khan on strike. Khan then
smashed a full delivery straight back to Sharif for a crucial dot ball
in the net run rate calculations. After a single on the fourth ball,
Sharif pulled up with a rib injury and had to leave the field.
Berrington came on to bowl the fifth ball and even though there were
only two runs needed to win, Scotland kept five men on the boundary. A
two would ensure they finished third, but if a boundary was struck then
Kenya would jump ahead of them on net run rate. Baker got a full toss
from Berrington that he popped up over midwicket. Coetzer ran back and
spilled the chance as Khan and Baker ran hard while the ball was in the
air to get the second run and seal the win for USA. However, Scotland
hung on to third on net run rate, finishing at +0.347 to Kenya’s +0.340.
All teams have an off day on Wednesday. USA will play Bermuda in the
11th place semifinal match on Thursday in Sharjah. Bermuda finished
seventh in Group B at 1-6 with their only win coming against Papua New
Guinea. The winner of that match will play the winner of the first 11th
place semifinal match in Sharjah between Hong Kong, who finished sixth
in Group A at 2-5, and Uganda, who finished seventh in Group B at 2-5.
Live coverage of USA’s match against Bermuda from Sharjah begins at 5:45
a.m. EST on Thursday. DreamCricket.com’s tournament coverage is made
possible in part by the New Inning Foundation. Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
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By Peter Della Penna in Abu Dhabi (on Twitter)
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Kenya’s pace attack combined to take 9 for 64 in 15.2 overs as the
USA batting lineup was shot out for 90 before losing by nine wickets on
Monday at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Abu Dhabi. Nelson
Odhiambo was named Man of the Match after taking 3 for 13 in 3.2 overs.
Kenya moves into a tie with Italy for fourth place at 3-3 and still has
an outside chance of finishing in the top three while USA remains in
seventh place in Group B at 1-5.
“Today was a disappointing loss. We didn’t expect to be outdone by
Kenya in this manner,” said USA captain Sushil Nadkarni after the loss.
“When I look back, you basically have three departments in the game: the
bowling, fielding and the batting. I feel like our top order batting is
seriously lacking in the tournament right now. We’re just not clicking
as a unit. The next two games, we’re looking to give opportunities to
the youngsters so that they get exposure at this level.”
After a week’s worth of hot weather, USA won the toss on a cool
morning with a temperature in the low 60s and elected to bat first. Andy
Mohammed was brought into the starting XI in place of vice-captain
Aditya Mishra, who was being rested according to Nadkarni.
USA lost a wicket on the third ball of the match when Steven Taylor
was bowled by Nehemiah Odhiambo without scoring. Mohammed came in at
three and struggled to get the ball away as Nehemiah bowled tight lines
along with Elijah Otieno. Nadkarni was given a life on 9 when Nehemiah
hurried him with a bouncer that was spilled at square leg by Shem
Ngoche. Mohammed finally got out for 3 off 12 balls, caught at point off
Nehemiah to make it 19 for 2 in the fifth.
Orlando Baker was out for 8, loosely flicking a leg stump delivery
from Ragheb Aga to Ngoche at deep midwicket. Japen Patel went three
balls later for 4, edging behind an attempted drive against Nelson
Odhiambo to make it 45 for 4. Ryan Corns lasted five balls for his 1,
bowled through the gate by Duncan Allan to make it 54 for 5 as the
batting techniques of several USA batsmen were exposed by the Kenyan
pace attack.
“We don’t play enough cricket on turf back home and as a result any
young cricketer who is looking to develop his game is not going to get
that experience playing on turf,” said Nadkarni. “When you play on turf,
game to game you get different kinds of wickets. Sometimes they’re nice
batting wickets where you can go in and start stroking the ball. Other
times there are seaming tracks like today and you have to play a
different game on seaming tracks. That’s where we probably have a lot of
gaps in our techniques in our batting because our guys are just not
used to playing on turf wickets.”
 USA’s
hopes of posting a defendable total rested on the shoulders of
Nadkarni, who had been carrying USA all innings. He made it to 41 before
attempting his third six, but was caught at deep midwicket off the
bowling of off-spinner James Ngoche to make it 73 for 6 in the 14th and
it wasn’t long before USA folded completely.
Adil Bhatti was bowled by Aga for 4 and three balls later Aga cleaned
up Abhimanyu Rajp with a slower ball yorker to make it 76 for 8 after
15. Elmore Hutchinson dangled his bat outside off to give David Obuya
his second catch behind the stumps and Nelson his second wicket to make
it 84 for 9. Nelson teamed up with the wicketkeeper one more time to get
rid of Ghous for 1 to wrap up USA’s innings in 18.2 overs for 90, USA’s
lowest score of the tournament. Nehemiah put the pressure on at the
start with two maidens in his first three overs and finished with 2 for
17. Aga finished with 3 for 16 in a supporting role.
Kenya sent Allan and Alex Obanda out to open and they made short work
of the target. Usman Shuja conceded just three singles in the first
over, but from then on USA’s bowlers were victimized by the Kenyan
batsmen.
Obanda hit three boundaries off Shuja in the third, the second of
which went through Ghous on the third man boundary when he tried to stop
the ball by kicking it with his feet instead of putting in a slide. It
was the first of several misfields during USA’s 10-over stay in the
field. USA missed a chance to nab Allan on 9 when Hutchinson beat him
for pace on a short ball and the right-hander top edged a pull toward
Mohammed at mid on, but Mohammed misjudged the ball off the bat and ran
back late getting only fingertips to the ball. Allan took the next ball
outside off and pulverized it over extra cover for 6 as USA continued to
look lifeless in the field.
Obanda took a special liking to Patel’s bowling, hitting him for
three fours and a six in the fifth over to take the score to 54. Ghous
made the only breakthrough for USA, getting Obanda to edge behind for 34
off 19 balls. Collins Obuya continued the assault with Allan, finishing
off the match by hitting four boundaries in five balls off Ghous in the
10th over, with a lofted drive over mid-on for the winning runs. 68 out
of Kenya’s 93 runs came off fours and sixes.
USA’s final game in group play is against Scotland at the ICC Global
Cricket Academy on Tuesday. Live coverage begins at 5:45 a.m. EST on
DreamCricket. DreamCricket.com’s tournament coverage is made possible in
part by the New Inning Foundation.
Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
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 CC Morris Cricket Library Association held its AGM on March 11, 2012. The event was held at the lecture hall adjoining the US Cricket Museum at Haverford College.
Jamie Harrison receives the Dr. Comfort Award from Paul Hensley, President of CC Morris Library.
Paul Hensley, President of CC Morris welcomed the gathering. In his opening remarks, Mr. Hensley noted that year marks the 20th anniversary of the Philadelphia Cricket Festival and also the 40th anniversary of Kamran Khan's service to Haverford College as coach of the college's cricket team.
The CC Morris Cricket Library and Cricket Museum houses the largest collection of cricket literature and memorabilia in the Western hemisphere.
The organization is supported by Haverford College through funds endowed by C Christopher Morris. Mr. Morris had a varied career as a cricketer in the late 19th and early 20th century representing Friends' Select School, Haverford College, Merion Cricket Club, Pilgrims, Gentlemen of Philadelphia and the United States. Mr. Morris' grand nephew, Mr. HH Morris was in attendance at the AGM.
Members of CC Morris Library Association listen to Paul Hensley's opening remarks.
The organizers also recognized Jamie Harrison of USYCA by presenting him with the Dr. Howard Comfort Award. Dr. Comfort played a key role in the establishment of the Library Association, and was a lifelong player and supporter of cricket in the United States, spending four years with the Haverford College XI as an undergraduate from 1921 to 1924, including a tour to Canada in 1923 and to England in 1925. Dr. Comfort served as coach of the Haverford College team for nearly three decades and was regarded with great affection and respect by a large number of Haverford cricketers.
Jamie, whose work with promoting cricket in USA's schools has won him international acclaim, follows a long list of luminaries who have received this award including J. Alfred Reeves (1992) and Albert Broadhurst (1996).
In his thank you speech, Mr. Harrison said: "I am deeply moved by the presentation of this prestigious award, which I share with all those who have joined with me in the USYCA movement. The C.C. Morris Cricket Library Association has supported USYCA from its inception. Without the faith and generosity of the Association, youth cricket would be in a far less advantageous position today."
In his speech, Venu Palaparthi urged CC Morris' membership to serve as the conscience and the heart of USA cricket.
Venu Palaparthi, co-founder of DreamCricket.com was the guest speaker at the AGM. In his speech, Mr. Palaparthi spoke of the role played by Philadelphia in keeping cricket alive in the U.S. through its darkest period.
Mr. Palaparthi reviewed the historic milestones that Philadelphia was witness to. He recognized Alfred Reeves in particular for his many contributions to the gentleman's sport of cricket, opening his speech with the same slide that he used during his presentation at the ICC Centenary. The slide contained Alfred Reeves' now famous quote: "The game of cricket was in the States before we were States."
Speaking about the issues facing USA cricket today, Mr. Palaparthi challenged CC Morris' membership to speak up, get involved, and serve as the conscience of USA cricket community. Owing to its highly respected leadership and its proximity to the well-groomed and historic cricket venues of Philadelphia, Merion and Haverford, the organization was best positioned to recapture the allure of cricket's splendid past. These are the very attributes that led to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Lord's to partner with CC Morris for their "Swinging Away - How Cricket and Baseball Connect" exhibit in Cooperstown, NY. "CC Morris should build on that inspiring track record and continue to set an example for others to follow," Mr. Palaparthi said. Taking the Philadelphia International Cricket Festival as an example, Mr. Palaparthi said that the festival could invite two full-strength teams for a marquis fixture each year that could easily become the bellwether event on the East Coast.
Speaking about the need for a more robust cricketing eco-system, Mr. Palaparthi said that cricket had to not only emulate soccer but outdo it in order to make up for lost time. But to do so, it needed to nurture a representative democracy, transparent governance, and elect administrators who possess rigor and energy.
In closing, Mr. Palaparthi said that DreamCricket would donate its collection of books that it had bought in an auction from the KA Auty Cricket Library at Canada's Ridley College. He also announced that DreamCricket was going to become a life member of CC Morris.
Dr. Vikram Dravid, a CC Morris member and a Philadelphia area radiologist, donated copies of his recently published book "Not Just Cricket" to CC Morris. Dr. Dravid said that the job of a radiologist involved hours spent in a dark room. His stories allowed him to think beyond the confines of those boundaries. Speaking about his novel, he said that it weaves riveting cricket games with the realities of life.
In attendance at the event was 97-year old Tom Ambler who provided an interesting historical perspective drawing on his 85-year involvement with the sport in Philadelphia.
Mr. Ambler said that the automobile played a major role in ending cricket's dominance in the region. He said that as automobiles became more accessible in the early 1920-1940 time period, many cricketers, who were also somewhat affluent, preferred to spend their weekends with their families by going on long drives in their brand new cars. That meant that they had less time to spare for the day-long demands of cricket.
Mr. Ambler said that this particular phenomenon coincided with the spectacular rise of tennis and golf. As fewer people were available to play cricket, tennis grew in popularity because it needed just two to four people to commit a couple of hours, he said.
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By Peter Della Penna in Dubai (on Twitter)
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Senior players Sushil Nadkarni and Usman Shuja turned in their best
batting and bowling performances of the tournament respectively to lead
USA to a 30-run win over Oman on Sunday at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20
Qualifier in Dubai. Nadkarni scored 59 off 47 balls to open up the match
and Shuja stifled Oman to start the second innings with a four over
spell of 1 for 9 to claim Man of the Match honors. USA comes away with
their first win of the tournament to go to 0-4 while Oman remains
winless at 0-5.
“We’ve been under pressure this tournament because it’s never easy to
go with losses in the tournament knowing full well there are a lot of
people back home who have some high expectations for the team,” said
Nadkarni after the win. “Coming into this game, We were pretty pumped up
because we knew Oman was in the same boat as us and I really didn’t
want to be the 15th or 16th spot in this tournament. Now we’ve given
ourselves a chance because moving forward we still have Kenya and
Scotland and if we can win those games we can at least be looking for a
higher ranking in this tournament.”
USA won the toss and elected to bat first with Asif Khan and Nauman
Mustafa coming out of the XI from the previous match in favor of Ryan
Corns, whose groin injury rapidly improved to the point where he was
cleared to play after initially being ruled out of the tournament, and
Japen Patel who flew in on Friday night from Atlanta after being
approved by the ICC Technical Committee as an injury replacement for
Gowkaran Roopnarine.
 Nadkarni
opened with Steven Taylor and it was the teenager who was the aggressor
in their opening stand while Nadkarni eased his way back into form
after three consecutive ducks. Taylor smacked three fours – over cover,
over midwicket and through point – before top-edging a pull to deep
midwicket for 15 to give Awal Khan his first wicket and make the score
20 for 1 in the fifth over.
Image (right) - Usman Shuja receives his Man of the Match award for his performance in a win over Oman. [Courtesy: ICC/Ian Jacobs]
Aditya Mishra came out and struggled to turn over the strike but
Nadkarni did the heavy lifting whenever he did take guard, dominating a
49-run stand between the two. Nadkarni hit a six over midwicket to end
the ninth over then struck another over long off as part of a 12-run
10th to get the scoring rate moving.
Mishra was finally run out for 8 when a direct hit from midwicket to
the keeper’s end found him short responding to Nadkarni’s call for a
single. Orlando Baker was out first ball in the next over playing across
to a full length delivery from Amir Ali and was trapped in front to
make it 76 for 3 in the 13th.
Nadkarni brought up his 50 in 41 balls with a six over square leg,
then followed it up in the 14th over with another big hit over the
midwicket rope. He tried to repeat the shot against the left-arm spin of
Hemal Mehta but mistimed a full delivery toward long on and was caught
just inside the rope for USA’s highest individual score on the week to
make it 86 for 4 in the 14th.
Wickets continued to tumble as Oman clawed their way back. Elmore
Hutchinson was caught at long on for 4 trying to muscle leg-spinner
Zeeshan Siddiqui over the ropes. Adil Bhatti was stumped for 19
overbalancing after missing a slog against Siddiqui as USA looked like
they would struggle to post a defendable total at 109 for 6 with 15
balls to go in the innings.
It was left to Abhimanyu Rajp to boost USA with some lusty hitting at
number eight. He got off the mark first ball with a six back over
Siddiqi’s head, then followed it up with another straight drive for
four. In the 19th he benefitted from a misjudged chance on the long on
rope to get another six before getting out for 20 with two balls to go
in the innings, but not before taking USA to 138. Three runs were taken
off the last two balls faced by Patel and USA ended much more
comfortably on 141 for 7.
Rajeshkumar Ranpura bowled a solid spell to take 1 for 21 with a
maiden in four overs while Awal Khan took 1 for 11 in three with 13 dot
balls in his 18 deliveries. Siddiqi finished with Oman’s best figures of
2 for 19 in two.
Oman’s chase never gained any traction after Shuja put the clamps on
their top order. In the first over he bowled a wicket maiden, claiming
Siddiqui via Corns at point. In his next over, he conceded a wide, but
nothing off the bat. Eight singles came off his final two overs, but
Adnan Ilyas and Vaibhav Watagaonkar struggled to get him away as Oman
ended the seventh over at 25 for 1, with 116 needed to win in 13 overs,
an asking rate that was too difficult in the end.
The partnership between Ilyas and Watagaonkar was good for 54, but it
took 10.2 overs to accomplish. It finally ended when Patel beat Ilyas
for pace and the batsman top-edged a pull to Mishra at cover to go for
24. Four balls later, Watagaonkar was stumped for 30 by Taylor off Rajp.
With both set batsmen out, the chase meandered along to an inevitable
conclusion.
Patel struck twice more in the 15th when Farhan Khan was caught
inside the cover boundary by Bhatti for 8. Three balls later, Ali got
out for 4 when Nadkarni took a swirling top edge at midwicket to make it
78 for 5. Awal Khan was the second victim of the day and team high
seventh in the tournament for Rajp when he top edged a slog to Ghous at
mid on for 13. The last wicket to fall happened in the 19th when Sultan
Ahmed top edged a pull to Patel at cover to give Ghous his only wicket,
making the score 105 for 7. Oman eventually ended their innings on 111
for 7.
While Shuja was named Man of the Match for his tone-setting spell,
Patel took the best figures in the innings with 3 for 29 in four overs
of medium pace. Rajp finished with 2 for 23 in three.
USA’s next match is against Kenya, who lost to Namibia by seven
wickets after being bowled out for 108. Kenya is 2-3 in the tournament
and a win for USA, combined with a Uganda loss to Ireland, could see USA
move into a tie for fifth place. USA’s net run rate is good enough that
they’d probably be placed above either of the other two sides if they
wind up with the same record.. Live coverage of USA’s match vs. Kenya in
Abu Dhabi begins Monday at 1:45 a.m. EST on DreamCricket.
DreamCricket.com’s tournament coverage is made possible in part by the
New Inning Foundation.
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Comments
.jpg) With roughly one month remaining before the controversial and much-postponed USACA election, a lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. federal court by Ram Varadarajan, candidate for President of USACA, with California Cricket Academy as co-litigant.
In a letter to the league presidents, Varadarajan wrote: "The lawsuit details the Board’s misconduct and seeks a Court Order halting the sham elections and substituting free and fair elections. Specifically, we ask the Court to order that the national election occur promptly with all leagues who were in good standing as of November 30, 2011 be deemed eligible to vote and all regional elections that took place in 2011 per the Constitution be recognized."
Varadarajan has retained the services of the nationally renowned O'Melveny and Myers. CCA has engaged Ron Katz of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, who is also a professor of sports law at Santa Clara University.
As readers will remember, Ram Varadarajan had previously filed a complaint in accordance with USACA constitution stating that the compliance audit was not a prerequsite to vote in regional or national elections, and that the board has not identified any provision of the constitution that authorized it to condition voting rights on full, complete, and satisfactory compliance with the audit. USACA dismissed the complaint and continued with its compliance audit before ultimately disenfranchising 32 leagues.
In his letter addressed to the league presidents and cricket enthusiasts explaining the reasons for seeking legal recourse, Varadarajan wrote: "We share a passion for cricket and the desire to see our sport grow in the United States. Others do not. They crave power. The actions of the Board of Directors of USACA this past year have been unthinkable.
"The USACA Board has postponed the Constitutionally-required national elections five times and well beyond the last legally allowed date. Then, after supposed “final” election dates had been announced, the USACA Board set out on a course to rig the election. It succeeded. Under the guise of a “compliance audit,” the Board disenfranchised more than 2/3 of all USACA leagues, forbidding those leagues from voting in the Association’s elections. 32 of 47 leagues have no voice whatsoever in the direction of our Association for the next three years -- if ever. The board is desperately trying to make the result of the farce election a fait accompli.
"This is exactly the sort of arbitrary, self-interested misconduct that occurred in 2007, threatened the existence of USACA, and forced the drafting of our Constitution. Unfortunately, the USACA Board thinks it is above the law. It boldly, openly, and defiantly violated the Constitution and law, believing that nobody would stand up and do anything about it.
"The Board was wrong."
"I have been humbled and encouraged by the support that I have received from across the country in this fight for justice and fair play," Varadarajan wrote in his letter adding that he was honored to lead this fight on behalf of all true cricket lovers in the US.
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By Peter Della Penna in Dubai (on Twitter)
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Irish fast bowler Boyd Rankin took 4 for 9 in a devastating opening
spell to wipe out USA’s batting order on the way to a 64-run win for
Ireland at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai. Rankin was
named Man of the Match for his efforts and is now the tournament’s
leading wicket-taker with 10 in four games. Ireland moved to 3-1 with
the win to stay tied for second in Group B with Scotland behind
undefeated Namibia. USA remains winless at 0-4 in the tournament, but
today’s loss was the first in which they were truly outclassed by their
opponents.
“I think Ireland really outplayed us in all three departments of the
game,” said USA vice-captain Aditya Mishra after the loss. “I think we
bowled pretty well to them to restrict a team like Ireland on a small
ground to 160. I thought we had a chance, but when we came to bat, they
obviously had a plan. Their two medium pacers bowled out eight overs in
the beginning. As a team, we’re not used to coming out and playing
against 140+ kph bowlers. I think that showed on the field and I think
they executed their plans very well.”
Ireland won the toss and elected to bat first on what proved to be a
tricky batting surface. USA subbed out Andy Mohammed to bring Elmore
Hutchinson back into the lineup. Hutchinson and Usman Shuja had yet to
take a wicket in the tournament coming into the contest but struck early
to put Ireland on the back foot.
After Irish captain William Porterfield hit a four down the ground on
the third ball of the match, Shuja came back the next delivery to bowl
him when Porterfield missed a slog to midwicket. In the fifth over,
Hutchinson was smacked for four by Paul Stirling on the first ball, then
pitched it up again and got Stirling to nick behind to Steven Taylor to
send Ireland’s other opener off for 17. Alex Cusack came in and was
bowled first ball to put Hutchinson on a hat trick and leave Ireland at
32 for 3.
Kevin O’Brien negotiated the hat-trick ball safely and along with Ed Joyce,
put Ireland’s professionalism on full display. Joyce calmly steered
Ireland out of trouble until O’Brien got himself set. O’Brien finally
unleashed himself in the 12th over against Aditya Mishra, skipping down
the track to clobber a full toss for six over long on to bring up the 50
partnership with Joyce. He dished out even more punishment to Asif Khan
in the 15th over, hitting the first two balls for a six over long on
and a four through the covers.
It took a moment of brilliance from Abhimanyu Rajp to dislodge
O’Brien and end the partnership at 86. O’Brien tried to smack the
off-spinner down the ground but Rajp got his hands up in time to knock
the ball up in the air before diving to take a catch on the rebound.
O’Brien left stunned for 47, but he’d done his job to get Ireland out of
trouble. Two overs later, Rajp had Joyce prodding a much simpler return
catch for his second wicket as the former England player walked off for
46 to make it 135 for 3.
Gary Wilson came in and hit a flurry of boundaries before he was
caught at deep midwicket by Muhammad Ghous to give Hutchinson his third
and make it 146 for 6 in the 19th. John Mooney and Trent Johnston added
12 in the final over to take Ireland to a total of 160.
Hutchinson was the best bowler for USA on the day, taking 3 for 22
but curiously bowled just three overs instead of the maximum four
allowed. Rajp had 2 for 24 in four overs and is now USA’s leading
wicket-taker in the event with five in three games.
The target of 161 was 42 less than what USA needed against Ireland at
the same tournament in 2010, when Niall O’Brien’s 84 propelled Ireland
to their best ever Twenty20 score. However, 161 was still a figure well
out of reach for USA’s brittle batting order.
Taylor got USA off to a solid start in the first over, taking on
Johnston and flaying him through the off side for a pair of boundaries.
It was all downhill from there though. Two balls into the second over,
USA captain Sushil Nadkarni ran himself out going for a tight single
into the leg side. Andrew White pounced on the ball from square leg and
fired a direct hit to the non-striker’s end to send Nadkarni off without
scoring for the third day in a row. Nadkarni has only faced five
deliveries in his last three innings.
 In
a stunning move, Rajp was promoted up the order to come in at number
three. Prior to Friday’s match, Rajp had faced 11 deliveries at the
tournament coming in at number 10 and number eight, scoring 14 runs. He
took a series of wild heaves against Rankin and Johnston, connecting for
one boundary over midwicket against Johnston, before Rankin bowled him
for 6 when he missed an attempt at guiding a good length ball to third
man and USA was 23 for 2.
Image (right) - Boyd Rankin goes up for an LBW shout against
Aditya Mishra. He would eventually dismiss Mishra for a duck, one of
Rankin's four wickets on the day. [Courtesy: ICC/Barry Chambers]
USA has now tried four different players - Mishra, Hutchinson, Nauman
Mustafa, and Rajp - at number three in four games during the
tournament. They have contributed 14 runs in four innings from the
position.
Mishra came in and lasted just five balls before he tried to pull
Rankin and top edged a catch that the tall fast bowler settled under to
complete a double-wicket maiden in the fourth and USA dropped to 27 for
3. Three balls later, Orlando Baker tried to flick Johnston through
midwicket and sent a leading edge to Dockrell at third man. Taylor’s
stay finally ended in the sixth over when Rankin got him with a yorker
for 23 and USA dropped to 36 for 5, a total which at that point included
six extras.
Khan got out for 2 trying to uppercut Johnston over short third man
but didn’t get under the delivery enough and gave Dockrell his second
catch to make it 41 for 6 in the seventh. Rankin capped off his spell
with the wicket of Adil Bhatti, playing across a full delivery to be
bowled for 8 and at the end of eight overs USA was out of the game at 52
for 7.
Mustafa continued his disappointing debut tournament with 6 off 15
balls before he was LBW playing back to a fuller delivery from Stirling
and USA was 63 for 8 in the 12th. USA’s biggest partnership of the match
was produced by Hutchinson and Ghous, who put on 20 for the ninth
wicket before Ghous was caught trying to paddle Andrew White over short
fine leg but Dockrell was there for his third catch. Hutchinson wound up
top scoring in the match for USA, finishing with 29 off 33 balls before
White bowled him to end the match with USA all out for 96 in 18 overs.
After the match, the ICC issued a press release announcing that Japen
Patel has been approved as an injury replacement for Gowkaran
Roopnarine. Patel was in the reserves list for USA and is currently on
the way to Dubai to join the squad.
All teams have a day off before resuming tournament play on Sunday,
when USA will take on Oman from the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Live coverage begins at 1:45 a.m. EST on DreamCricket.com.
DreamCricket.com’s tournament coverage is made possible in part by the
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USACA announced on Tuesday that the Atlantic Region would hold an election for youth coordinator, women's coordinator and two members at large on March 28, 2012. The region will elect its director and representative a day later on March 29th.
Only three member leagues - Washington Metropolitcan Cricket Board, Washington Cricket League and New Jersey Cricket Association have been deemed by USACA board to be members in good standing. As a consequence, only these three leagues will be eligible to vote in this election process.
In a letter addressed to the leagues eligible to vote, a copy of which was posted on USACA.org, it was noted that Deepak Katte was appointed as the Returning Officer. The deadline for nominations is March 16, 2012. Nominations for the aforementioned posts may be scanned and submitted to president@njscua.com and lbrulport@gmail.com. The nomination form and timeline is available via the following USACA link.
These elections are not without controversy. Three of the biggest New Jersey based leagues - Cricket League of New Jersey, Garden State Cricket League and Millennium Cricket League - have been disqualified as a result of the 'compliance process.' Readers may recollect that USACA's then compliance officer had certified all of the leagues as eligible in June 2011 and an election was held on July 26, 2011.
However, those results were blocked after USACA president Gladstone Dainty called the returning officer and instructed him not to disseminate the results. Following USACA's decision to block the results, a stalemate ensued and the region has not had a functioning administration since July 2011. The region's seven league representatives formed an interim body so that urgent cricketing matters could be attended to. As elections were called for November 19th and postponed, the region's drift continued. Finally, USACA delivered a knock-out punch and disqualified several leagues from voting on February 26, 2012.
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By Peter Della Penna in Dubai (on Twitter)
Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
Namibia opener Raymond van Schoor carried his bat to finish 79 not
out off 55 balls with 11 boundaries to be named Man of the Match as USA
lost to Namibia by 17 runs on Thursday at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20
Qualifier in Dubai. Van Schoor, in tandem with Namibia captain Sarel
Burger, crucially boosted the Namibians from 135 for 4 in 17 overs to
177 for 4 by the end of the innings, which was too much for USA to chase
in the end. Namibia stays undefeated and at the top of Group B at 3-0
while USA remains winless at 0-3.
“We had the game under control until the 17th over. Namibia played
really well in the last three. That probably had a big impact on the
overall game situation,” said USA captain Sushil Nadkarni after the
loss. “I feel like we need to develop bowling at the death and that will
come with experience. Right now a lot of the bowlers, this format is a
little new to them but they’re bowling extremely well. So we’re
competing against some of the better teams and playing really well in
the field. When you get to the death, teams are going after you and a
lot of times you need experience to know what to do and not react to the
pressure.”
USA made two changes from the XI against Italy, bringing Nauman
Mustafa back into the lineup for the injured Gowkaran Roopnarine, who
has been ruled out of the tournament along with Ryan Corns with each
player suffering leg injuries. Curiously, Mustafa played in the field
and Steven Taylor kept wicket for USA, even though Mustafa was selected
to be on tour as the first choice gloveman. Andy Mohammed was also
brought in to replace Elmore Hutchinson as USA looked to strengthen
their batting against a Namibia team that had posted 192 on Wednesday
against Scotland.
 Namibia
won the toss and elected to bat first on the smallest ground in the
tournament, the ICC Global Cricket Academy Oval number two. Considering
the score Namibia made against Scotland on a larger outfield in Abu
Dhabi, USA’s effort in the field was commendable.
Gerrie Snyman opened the batting with van Schoor and the two put on
49 for the first wicket in just 5.1 overs. The biggest damage was doled
in out in the fifth over bowled by Asif Khan who repeatedly strayed on
the legs of the Namibia batsman to be swept through the on side for four
boundaries.
Snyman was bowled for 29 by Abhimanyu Rajp to start the sixth when an
attempted slog through midwicket failed to connect. USA got a big boost
when Orlando Baker had Louis van der Westhuizen mistime a drive to Adil
Bhatti at mid off and the tournament’s only centurion and overall
scoring leader was gone for 4 to make it 70 for 2 in the ninth.
Craig Williams joined van Schoor and should have been out for 12 and
the score 83 for 2 in the 11th when he lofted a full delivery from Baker
toward Bhatti on the boundary again. Bhatti covered 25 yards running to
his right and made a great effort to get two hands to it but couldn’t
hang on. Williams spanked the next ball for six to rub it in and
eventually made 41 in a 56-run partnership with van Schoor. He fell in
the 16th over trying to cross bat a short ball from Rajp and top edged
it to Khan at short third man who took a splendid one-handed catch.
USA struck again eight balls later to make it 133 for 4 with one ball
to go in the 17th when Nicholaas Scholtz was bowled by Baker for 2. It
looked like USA could contain Namibia for under 160, but van Schoor
turned it on after reaching 50 on the first ball of the 17th. In his
final 11 balls, van Schoor scored 29 runs including five boundaries.
Sarel Burger scored off every ball he faced at the other end and 15
minutes later USA was staring at a daunting target of 178.
It didn’t get much better for USA when Nadkarni was out second ball
hooking Snyman to deep square leg. Mustafa lasted just four balls coming
in at number three before driving loosely to Burger at cover, giving
Hendrick Geldenhuys his first wicket as USA stumbled out of the gate
with the score 3 for 2 nine balls into the chase.
Aditya Mishra came in and along with Steven Taylor constructed USA’s
best partnership of the tournament, 64 runs for the third wicket. Taylor
mostly stayed in his shell though, hitting one four in his 21 of 24
balls before he was caught on the cover boundary by van der Westhuizen
off the bowling of Louis Klazinga.
Baker came in and after initially struggling to time the ball started
to catch up to the pace established by Mishra. The vice-captain was
feasting on anything short in his innings, hooking three sixes – one
each in the third, fourth and fifth overs – and finished with two fours
and five sixes total. Mishra was dropped in the sixth over on 21 at mid
on and proceeded to cash in for another 32 runs, finishing with his
highest score in a USA uniform and USA’s highest score of the
tournament, 53 in 34 balls.
USA entered the 15th over needing 61 in six overs with Baker on 29
and Mishra on 53. Christi Viljoen came on for the first time in the
match and immediately struck, getting Mishra with a yorker to make it
117 for 4 and from there USA’s chase tapered off.
After scoring 35 not out off 29 balls coming in at number six against
Italy on Wednesday, Khan never came in to bat for USA on Thursday.
Instead, Mohammed entered in a pressure situation that required
boundaries, but the young batsman struggled to time the ball and only
managed one four. Baker sensed he needed to be the one to clear the
ropes but couldn’t time a lofted cover drive well enough off Viljoen in
the 17th and Burger backpedaled to take a tumbling catch to remove Baker
for 38 as USA slipped to 132 for 5. With the equation now 46 required
off 21 balls and two fresh batsmen at the crease, Namibia stayed on top
and never let up.
Bhatti came in and scored 4 off 7 before he was stumped two balls
into the final over. Two balls later, Rajp was run out by the
wicketkeeper Steenkamp trying to scamper a run and USA finished 160 for 7
in 20. Namibia’s performance in the field was sloppy with 24 extras
conceded, but it didn’t matter in the end.
USA will play Ireland on Friday at the ICC GCA #2 ground in Dubai.
Ireland is 2-1 after a two-wicket win over Italy on Thursday in Abu
Dhabi. The match will be webcast live on www.quipu.tv. DreamCricket will
continue to provide live ball-by-ball updates during the match as well
with live coverage beginning at 5:45 a.m. EST. DreamCricket.com’s
tournament coverage is made possible in part by the New Inning
Foundation.
Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
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Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook. Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket
By Peter Della Penna in Abu Dhabi (on Twitter)
Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
Carl Sandri scored 49 not out off 28 balls and followed it up with 2
for 32 in the field to lift Italy past USA by 8 runs on Wednesday at the
2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE. The result keeps Italy
undefeated at 2-0 while USA remains winless at 0-2.
“I thought today that we lost wickets at the wrong time,” said USA
captain Sushil Nadkarni after the loss. “We were stroking the ball well.
We were turning over the strike pretty well and just as it looked like
we wanted that to happen for another two or three overs, we would lose a
wicket.”
Italy won the toss and elected to bat first on a hot morning in Abu
Dhabi. USA made two changes to their lineup from Tuesday. Ryan Corns
suffered a groin injury and couldn’t suit up while wicketkeeper Nauman
Mustafa was dropped from the starting XI. Gowkaran Roopnarine and
Abhimanyu Rajp were the two players to come in. Steven Taylor put on the
gloves in place of Mustafa.
USA pounced early in the field to runout Michael Di Venuto for 6 in
the second over. Andy Northcote guided a ball behind point and Di Venuto
called him through but Usman Shuja at point fielded and fired over the
stumps to Taylor.
Two overs later, Muhammad Ghous bowled star all-rounder Peter
Petricola for 2 to make it 16 for 2 in the fourth. Rajp came on for the
sixth over and on his very first ball for the USA at senior level
trapped Northcote LBW for 13 to make it 26 for 3.
Gareth Berg and Damian Crowley then wrested back control for Italy
with a 39-run stand in 5.3 overs. It came to an end when Berg tried to
scoop Orlando Baker over short fine leg but Elmore Hutchinson was in
position to take a simple catch. USA struck again six balls later to
remove Crowley for 26 when Rajp showed tremendous speed to chase down a
ball at short extra cover off his own bowling before throwing to Taylor
to make it 70 for 5.
 It
was at this point that Italy captain Alessandro Bonora joined Sandri at
the crease and stabilized the innings with a 43-run stand in 6.2 overs.
Bonora did well to rotate the strike as 14 of his 18 runs came off
singles. Sandri was striking the ball clean and hard over the ropes at
the other end, eventually finishing with two boundaries and four sixes
in his innings.
Image (right) - Carl Sandri receives his Man of the Match award. [Courtesy: ICC/Ian Jacobs]
Bonora was dismissed when he lofted Ghous to Rajp at long on to end
the 18th. Sandri didn’t slow down though and added 24 off the final two
overs to boost Italy to a below par but defendable total of 137 for 6.
Ghous was the pick of the bowlers for USA, finishing with 2 for 18 in
four.
USA’s chase got off to the worst possible start when Nadkarni was
caught behind first ball off the bowling of Berg. Hutchinson came in at
three and never got going, LBW for 1 off 7 balls when he played across a
full delivery from Sandri.
Taylor got out for 15 when he was trapped in front off left-arm
seamer Vince Pennazza to make it 29 for 3 in the sixth. Baker joined
Aditya Mishra and the two looked set for a long innings but both got out
after getting starts. Hemantha Jayasena pulled off a stunning
one-handed catch at midwicket to remove Baker for 11 to give Sandri his
second wicket and Mishra was stumped for 25 giving the charge to
Crowley’s left-arm spin as Italy took control at 70 for 5 in the 12th
over.
Adil Bhatti gave a leading edge back to Crowley to depart for 5
bringing Shuja to the crease where he joined Asif Khan. For a brief
while, it looked like the two players were going to reprise their
heroics from Hong Kong last year when they won a match for USA against
Oman, but it was not to be today. USA needed 38 to win in the final five
overs, but Pennazza came back for a second spell and removed Shuja for 8
to make it 103 for 7 in the 16th.
Roopnarine, who injured himself in the field trying to chase after a
ball heading for the boundary, came in at number nine but was hampered
running between the wickets with a heavy limp. He lasted five balls
before missing a sweep against Crowley to be LBW for 2.
Rajp joined Khan with 27 needed off 16 balls. Italy bowled several
full tosses down the stretch, but the batsmen struggled to get bat on
ball. Heading into the final over, USA needed 21 to win and Rajp
provided hope for USA by hitting the first two balls for a four and a
six down the ground. With the equation down to 11 off 4, he couldn’t
keep it up and managed just 2 runs for the rest of the over. USA
finished on 129 for 8. Crowley finished with the best figures for Italy,
taking 3 for 20, but Pennazza was also superb with 2 for 11 in his
four.
“This is a new team. A lot of guys are playing at this level for the
first time,” said Nadkarni. “This is exactly the kind of situations that
will help them gain the much needed experience. The key is that we
learn from these situations pretty quick and we implement the what not
to dos in the future games and start coming through on the results.”
USA will face off against Namibia on Thursday at the ICC Global
Cricket Academy in Dubai. Namibia defeated Scotland on Wednesday by 49
runs with Namibia's Louis van der Westhuizen scoring the tournament’s
first century, 106 not out in 54 balls.
Live coverage of USA’s match against Namibia will begin at 1:45 a.m.
EST on Thursday morning. DreamCricket.com’s tournament coverage is made
possible in part by the New Inning Foundation.
Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
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By Peter Della Penna in Dubai (on Twitter) Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
Uganda captain Davis Arinaitwe turned in a handy all-round show to
lead his side to a four-wicket win over USA on the first day of the 2012
ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE. Arinaitwe took 1 for 13 in his
four-over spell of off-spin before calmly guiding digging Uganda out of
trouble with 27 not out after they were 17 for 3 in seven overs chasing
124.
“The top of the order is something we need to look at very seriously
right now,” USA captain Sushil Nadkarni said after the loss. “If you
look back at that the past few games and this game it’s apparent that
I’m in form right now hitting it well and I feel like I’m able to turn
the strike pretty quick. The top two or three batters that bat with me,
we need to look at the combinations going into the next game because it
just feels like the guys are struggling a little bit to turn over the
strike.”
USA won the toss and elected to bat first with Abhimanyu Rajp, Andy
Mohammed and Gowkaran Roopnarine sitting out of the starting lineup.
Nadkarni opened with Steven Taylor and both players stayed true to their
form on tour. Taylor lasted nine balls before he was beaten by a full
length delivery from medium pacer Charles Waiswa to be bowled for 1 with
the score on 13 at the end of the third over.
Meanwhile, Nadkarni feasted on Uganda’s bowling attack, giving
especially harsh treatment to medium pacer Deusdedit Muhumuza in the
fifth over. Nadkarni teed off for two big sixes as part of a 16-run
frame, one clubbed over midwicket that went over the roof out of the
stadium and the next a lofted straight drive.
Vice-captain Aditya Mishra had joined Nadkarni at the fall of the
first wicket and was timing the ball well but struggled to find gaps,
routinely picking out fielders in the circle. He only contributed 7 runs
in a 38-run stand with Nadkarni before running himself out. Mishra
drove a ball straight to mid on and set off when there was no run and
Arinaitwe alertly threw to the keeper to get rid of Mishra to make it
51/2 in nine overs.
 Orlando
Baker had his first low score on the week when he attempted a flick to
midwicket against Arinaitwe and a leading edge popped up to Muhumuza at
cover to get rid of Baker for 3 on the first ball of the 11th over.
Nadkarni fell in the next over, bowled by the off-spin of Roger Mukasa
for 38 off 33 to make it 58 for 4. During a five-over stretch from the
ninth to the 13th over, USA scored just 15 runs.
Image (right) - Uganda captain Davis Arinaitwe accepts the Man of
the Match award from ICC Match Referee Graeme Labrooy. [Courtesy: Peter
Della Penna/DreamCricket]
Ryan Corns and Nauman Mustafa also could not get their strike rates
above 100 in their brief stints at the crease. Corns got out for 10 in
12, out LBW to Mukasa after missing a paddle sweep. Mustafa didn’t fare
much better, out for 13 in 19 driving Jonathan Sebanja to cover.
It was left to Adil Bhatti to breathe life back into USA’s innings.
Coming in at number seven, Bhatti showed a nerveless display at the
crease on his debut for the national team. He only had four dot balls in
his knock, scoring 21 off 14 balls. He had two boundaries and a
blistering six hit flat and hard straight down the ground off the
bowling of Waiswa. USA was 77 for 6 after 16, but Bhatti was the
catalyst for a late innings acceleration which saw USA take 11 each off
the 17th and 18th overs and 12 each off the 19th and 20th.
Bhatti finally fell to Sebanja when he spooned a low full toss off
the bottom of his bat to mid off to make it 103 for 7 with nine balls to
go in the innings. Elmore Hutchinson and Usman Shuja picked up where
Bhatti left off, scoring 11 off 5 and 8 not out off 5 respectively.
Hutchinson was run out on the second last ball of the innings trying to
steal a bye after Shuja swung and missed. Asif Khan came in and hit a
boundary on his only delivery faced to take USA to 123 for 8.
The off-spin trio of Arinaitwe, Mukasa and Frank Nsubuga combined to
bowl 12 overs for just 42 runs. Only one boundary was hit off them in 72
deliveries. Of the 120 legal deliveries in USA’s innings, 56 were dot
balls.
Uganda’s chase got off to a rocky start, beginning with the runout of
Mukasa for 1 on the second ball of the innings. Mukasa flicked a Shuja
delivery off his legs to Hutchinson on the fine leg rope and took him on
for a tight second. Hutchinson charged hard and fired a bullet to
Mustafa who took off the bails in time.
After a maiden by Muhammad Ghous in the second, Corns came on for the
third over and got Arthur Ziraba to chip one in the air to Khan on the
long on boundary for an 8-ball duck to make it 6 for 2 in the third.
Laurence Sematimba struggled to get the ball off the square and in
frustration danced down for a heave at Khan, missing badly and was
bowled for 4 to make it 16 for 3 after six overs.
Benjamin Musoke joined Arthur Kyobe at the crease and the pair
started to generate momentum for Uganda, putting on 27 for the fourth
wicket in 4.2 overs. Things really started to go wrong for USA in the
10th over bowled by Corns which went for 11 runs. Musoke was on 8 when
he lofted the first ball of the over to Taylor at long on, who misjudged
the ball badly running in when he should have stayed on the rope. He
tried to correct himself and ran back to briefly latch onto the ball
leaping in the air but had to let go as he was falling over the rope and
it turned into two runs. Musoke then followed that with a pair of
doubles, a boundary and a single to exacerbate the error. He got out in
the next over though when he drove Bhatti’s second delivery to
Hutchinson at long on to go for 17.
Another fielding miscue occurred three balls later when the new
batsman Arinaitwe, on 1 at the time, drove to Mishra at extra cover in
the circle. Mishra made a diving effort to his right and got two hands
to the ball, but couldn’t cling onto the difficult chance.
Kyobe lasted until the 12th over when he scooped Ghous to Shuja at
long on for 18 and it appeared USA had a decent chance for a win with
Uganda needing 71 in 51 balls. However, Nsuguba came in and just as he
had done in the field with Arinaitwe, the two put the pressure squarely
back onto USA shoulders. While Arinaitwe calmly took singles on nearly
every delivery to turn over the strike, Nsuguba turned his bat into a
sledgehammer. Nsuguba had 14 off his first five deliveries and
eventually finished with 30 off 19 in his 47-run stand with Arinaitwe.
Nsuguba only had four dot balls in his innings, hitting two fours and
two sixes. Arinaitwe stroked just one boundary, but only had a lone dot
ball in his 27 not out off 23 balls.
“The areas that our bowlers bowled weren’t the best for keeping
batsmen to eight runs an over,” said Nadkarni. “We were either too full
or too short. They were looking for those big swings and we kept giving
them loose balls. That’s an area we need to work on.”
Uganda scored 15 off the 13th over bowled by Bhatti, with Nsuguba
doing most of the damage, and it changed the required run rate
dramatically in Uganda’s favor with USA defending a small total. From
there they eased their way towards the target with the only hiccup
coming when Nsuguba scooped a leg stump delivery from Ghous to Corns at
deep midwicket. Sebanja picked up where Nsuguba left off and with 8
needed to win off 7 balls, hit the last ball of the 19th over from
Hutchinson over midwicket for six. Two singles to start the 20th over
sealed the win for Uganda.
USA’s next match is against Italy on Wednesday from Abu Dhabi. Italy
crushed Oman by nine wickets in their first match in Dubai. Oman was
restricted to 89 for 9 in 20 overs with 19 extras as the top score. Carl
Sandri took 4 for 9 in four overs opening the bowling. Michael Di
Venuto and Peter Petricola made short work of the chase, knocking off
the runs in 14 overs. Di Venuto finished 42 not out and Petricola was
unbeaten on 39.
Live coverage of USA’s match against Italy from Abu Dhabi will start
Wednesday at 1:45 a.m. EST. DreamCricket.com’s tournament coverage is
made possible in part by the New Inning Foundation. Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
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