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By Peter Della Penna in Los Angeles (on Twitter)
Cricket League of New Jersey fast bowler Jasdeep Singh clean bowled
three batsmen in three balls to complete a stunning hat-trick as CLNJ
defeated Minnesota Cricket Association by 53 runs in the morning before
clinching first place with a 3-0 record after a 1-run win over Southern
Connecticut Cricket Association in the afternoon on the second day of
the 2012 American Cricket Federation Twenty20 Tournament at Woodley Park
in Los Angeles, California.
In Sunday’s other morning matches, Southern California Cricket
Association defeated Washington Metropolitan Cricket Board by 131 runs,
Michigan Cricket Association defeated Massachusetts State Cricket League
by 28 runs and Midwest Cricket Conference defeated Southern Connecticut
Cricket Association by 48 runs. In the afternoon, MSCL defeated MCA by
117 runs, MCC beat WMCB by seven wickets and Michigan Cricket
Association stunned SCCA by 2 runs.
Four teams – SCCA, MCC, MSCL and Michigan Cricket Association –
finished tied at 2-1 but Michigan was the odd team out to miss the
semifinals as they had the lowest net run rate among the four. SCCA
finished in second place on net run rate, MSCL third and MCC fourth.
Monday’s semifinals will feature CLNJ taking on MCC while SCCA and MSCL
face off in the other game.
CLNJ batted first against MCA and posted 132 for 8 in 20 as Santosh
Dani top scored with 44 not out at number four. Singh’s hat trick to end
the match overshadowed spin bowler Pradeep Vedala’s spell of 4 for 11
as MCA was bowled out for 79 in the 17th over.
Image (above) - CLNJ fast bowler Jasdeep Singh erupts after
bowling his third batsman in three deliveries to complete a hat-trick
against Minnesota Cricket Association. [Courtesy: Peter Della
Penna/DreamCricket.com]
In the afternoon game between CLNJ and Southern Connecticut, CLNJ
batted first and posted 149 for 7 in 29 as CLNJ captain Kunal Baride top
scored with 33 off 22 balls at number five. In reply, opener Abishek
Patel nearly took the New Englanders to victory with 90 before being run
out going for the tying run on the final ball of the innings as
Southern Connecticut finished on 148 for 8.
SCCA batted first in their match against WMCB and posted 194 for 4 in
20. Mohammad Asad scored 75 off 43 balls at number three and was well
supported by Timil Patel who finished 40 not out in 25 balls at number
four. WMCB could not handle the spin attack of SCCA as Patel took 2 for 9
in four while Shayan Abdulghani wiped out the tail with 3 for 7 as WMCB
was bowled in for 63 in 18.3 overs.
Michigan batted first in their contest against MSCL and posted 179
for 6 with Manpreet Singh scoring 91 not out at number four with six
boundaries and four sixes. Timmy Thomas scored 82 not out at number five
in the MSCL chase, but lacked support and MSCL eventually finished on
151 for 6.
MCC batted first in the morning against Southern Connecticut, posting
154 for 7 in 20 overs. Mir Alavi top scored with 35 not out off 20
balls at number seven. Southern Connecticut’s chase never got going as
they were reduced to 4 for 2 in the third over and finished on 106 for
9. Abhijit Joshi took 3 for 17 with his off spin while Aditya Venkatesan
also bowled a clever spell of medium pace opening the bowling to finish
with 2 for 13 in four.
MCC completed their comeback from a first day defeat at the hands of
SCCA to clinch a spot in the semifinals with a convincing win over WMCB,
who finished the event without a win. WMCB’s batting order collapsed as
MCC captain Nirav Amin and Sameer Raorane ripped through the Washington
side to leave them 37 for 6 before they eventually scraped their way to
121 thanks to intervention from WMCB captain Ankur Saini who scored 32
at number seven. MCC chased the runs in 15.1 overs as Sandeep Dhar top
scored with 39 off 33 balls.
MSCL needed to win their afternoon game against MCA to qualify for
the semifinals and did so in emphatic fashion after posting the highest
score of the tournament, 210 for 5. Sharaz Baksh top scored with 53 off
25 balls but Fazal Alam, Huen Daley, Zeeshan Muhammad and Thomas all
chipped in with good scores. MCA was restricted to 93 for 7 in reply.
In the final game of the day, Michigan ruined SCCA’s quest for an
undefeated run through the prelims. Prajwal Shetty scored 50 opening the
match for Michigan in their total of 139 for 7. Asad took 3 for 14 for
SCCA. The host side appeared to be cruising to victory, needing only 18
to win with five overs left and five wickets in hand. SCCA then
committed three run outs in the next four overs while stumbling for runs
and entered the final over needing seven to win. During an attempted
two at the start of the over, the umpires called one run short. Patel
was run out for 29 and another run out on the last ball meant SCCA fell
short with the last five wickets all run outs as SCCA ended on 137 for
9. Rather than claim the number one seed in the semifinals and a matchup
with MCC who they beat convincingly on day one, they now face a stern
test against an explosive MSCL batting lineup.
Live coverage of the final day’s play will begin at 10 a.m. PST from on DreamCricket.com.