Captain Adit
Bhatti, a talented all-rounder who could easily have been Dreamcricket.com's
Series MVP, came in at number four and Mohammed Khamran joined him
to put on a 108 run partnership. Bhatti held his end down scoring
36* whilst Khamran did a Chanderpaul imitation by saving his Team's
innings. To do so Khamran punished any errant ball and pulled
and hooked 6 sixes in his 63*. Khamran's sixes soared well over
the boundary line, and the scorers and spectators seemed in danger
a few times. Like Chanderpaul, the left-handed Khamran gave
the impression of being in control, doing what he wanted to do with
the bowling despite the strong winds helping the swing bowlers. Khamran
and Bhatti propelled Montgomery to 175 for 3,low compared to their
previous scores but a high one nevertheless in 20 overs cricket.
The USF Team
began with a good run-rate but kept losing
wickets. Losing star batsman Harsh Boddepalli to Khamran really
hurt their chances and they were all out for 120, never really threatening
the Montgmery total.
The Montgomery players grabbed the stumps to celebrate their winning
of the Chanderpaul Trophy in the inaugural American College
Cricket Spring Break Championship. A cooler was emptied on Captain
Adit Bhatti before USACA VP of Cricket Operations Monaf
Mohammed presented the jubilant players with the huge
Shiv Chanderpaul Trophy.
Later in the evening Awards were presented
by Laparkan Shipping's Brian Edun in the following categories:
Laparkan Best Bowler - Ankush Chandra of Boston University
- together with Sumantro Das and Shilpin Makwana he comprised a pace
attack that would have probably performed better had they not come
from the Massachusetts winter lacking practice.
Laparkan Best Batsman - Rajeev Prabhakar of the University
of Miami - his amazing 89* in 34 ballsspeaks for itself. It was
dazzling and audacious and an example of what this new UMiami Team
can do next year.
Laparkan Best Fielder - Atishe Chordia of Carnegie Mellon University-
Atishe is a star. A gentleman on and off the field, he opens
the batting, and often takes off the gloves to bowl fast. His
wicketkeeping was excellent, even when his pacers were generating
lots of bounce and he had to jump for the balls.
Dreamcricket.com Series MVP - Mohammed Khamran of
Montgomery College. His innings in the Finals saved the game for
his Team and as a left-hander he drew comparisons to his hero, the
great Shiv Chanderpaul. Khamran also took the crucial wicket of
Harsh Baddepillai, the USF star batsman and effectively stymied
USF's chances of winning. His all-round performance throughout
the Championship was excellent with the bat and ball.
Dreamcricket.com Team Award, to the College Cricket Team best exemplifying
the spirit of cricket, went to Carnegie Mellon. From the moment
this Team heard of the Championship they registered their support
and showed their professionalism. On the field they batted and bowled
with desire. Opening batsman Aswin Badrinarayan was one of the best
batsmen in the Championship and Zoheb Veljee showed lots of talent.
Their fast bowlers, Sahil Jolly Anirudh Sood and Ankur
Sarin generated surprising speed and bounce. This is a
Team to watch next year as many of their players will still
be in school.
Results Opening Day American College Cricket
University of Miami vs Carnegie Mellon University
On an absolutely beautiful South Florida day the Inauguaral
American College Cricket Spring Break Championship got underway.
Early on the overnight dew made the outfield a bit slow but the Florida
sun soon dried the outfield and the boundaries were flowing.
First the University of Miami Cricket Club took on Carnegie
Mellon University Cricket Club. UMiami batted first and scored
114 with most of its batsmen reaching double figures. For Carnegie
Mellon University Ankur Sarin 2 for 21 oof 3 overs, Mohit 1 for
8 off 3overs and Atishe Chordia, the Captain taking a break from
keeping wicket, 1 for 16 off 3 overs. Carnegie lost an early
wicket but opener Aswin badrinarayan 34 and Man of the Match
Zoheb Veljee 44* took them within victory before 2 wickets
fell and made it a thrilling finish. For UMiami Mohit 1 for 14 off
4 overs, Hasan Ahmad 1 for 15 off 4 overs and Kalpesh Patel 1 for
23 off 4 overs bowled well. A few late dropped catches then
cost UMiami the game.
Boston University vs University of South
Florida
With the temperature at 75 % the University of South Florida
Cricket Club upset the Boston University Cricket Club. USF batted
first and got off to a bad start, losing 4 wickets for 23 runs,
the Boston opening atack of Captain Shilpin and Sumantro Das looked
fast. But then opener Aditya Agarwal 39 (5 fours) and Man of
the Match Prithvi Penare 44* steered them to a strong 146 for 7
off 20 overs.
Boston U 's batsmen did not fare well and only some late hitting
by fast bowler Sumantro Das,31 got them to a respectable total.
The tall powerfully built Das reminded many of Kapil Dev. The bowling
attack of Dhir Shah 3 for 15 off 4 overs and Nirav Shah 2 for 16
off 4 overs finished the surprising win by the University of South
Florida which gave notice that they were a Team to watch.
Carnegie Mellon University vs Montgomery College.
Great as the cricket was all day the Montgomery College batsmen
were amazing, blazing 223 runs in 20 overs, an astounding runrate
of 11 runs per over.
Captain and Man of the Match Adil Bhatti,46 ( 4 sixes and 2 fours)
led the batting attack and Ankit Sehgal, 29 (2 sixes ans 2
fours) Danish Ashgar,27 and Mohamed Kamran,26 (2 sixes) batted well
also. The left-handed opener Ashgar played some exquisite shots
which demonstrated that 20/20 scoring did not have to mean slogging.
His cover and off-drives were reminiscent of the great Zaheer Abbas.
It was a cornucopia of stroke-play and big-hitting.
Ashwin Badrinarayan again showed his mettle by scoring 34 for Carnegie
Mellon U but the Montgomery College total was just too daunting
and it was an overwhelming win for Montgomery to close the day of
exciting cricket.
A momentous day of American College cricket.
Rain Marred The Second Day Of The American
College Cricket Spring Break Championship
Boston University vs Montgomery College
The stylish Danish Ashgar stroked 5 fours in his 33 and together
with Sadiq Naseer 29 (2 fours and 1 six) got Montgomery off
to a strong start, nullifying the pace of Boston U's Sumantro Das
and Captain Shilpin Makwana. Ankit Sehgal 28 (1 six and 2 fours),
Mohammad Kamran 23 (1 four and 2 sixes) and coming in at # 7 allrounder
Amir Choudary blasted 29* (3 fours).combined to give Montgomery
216 for 7 off 19 overs before the rain came. Ankush Chandra
Shilpin Makwana were Boston's best bowlers taking
3 wickets for 37 runs and 2 for 28 respectively.
The game was shortened to 10 overs and Boston
U's batsmen again looked talented briefly before losing their wickets,
betrayed by the Massachusetts winter of not much practice.
Notable was the tall broad shouldered Wali Syed 40* who played some
glorious shots, taking 3 fours and 2 sixes off the strong Montgomery
bowling. Syed made 40* and made one wonder what would
have happened had he come earlier in the lineup. A cover drive for
4 he played was as good as you're likely to see.
Carnegie Mellon vs University of South Florida
The U of South Florida batted first and scored 69 for 2 off 10 overs
with Captain Harsh Baddepillai scoring 32* including 4 fours. Baddepillai
usually stars in the local League but in this Championship is getting
the opportunity to star for his University.
The gallant Carnegie Mellon Team responded with 48 for 1 before
the game was abandoned because of rain. Carnegie's 2 star batsmen
Ashwin Badri 36* and Captain Atshe Chordia 11* looked good in their
time at the crease. Unfortunately the weather stymied their impressive
effort and no result was declared.
Boston University vs University of Miami
This 15 over match continued the exciting cricket of the previous
matches when Boston U was sent in to bat by UMiami. Batting at number
3 the powerfully built Armu Syed who had made 40* in his previous
game stroked the ball all over the field for his 58*.Getting down
on his knees Syed played cover drives that split fielders or soared
overhead. Pulls, hooks and cuts were all in his repertoire of shots,
giving him 3 sixes and 5 fours. Syed's innings made Boston U give
UMiami a formidable total of 126 to beat.
UMiami lost an early wicket whilst Rajeev Prabhakar unleashed an
avalanche of 12 fours and 3 sixes to reach 89* in only 34 balls.
and lead UMiami to an amazing and unexpected victory. Prabhakar
and Sharat shared a 92 run partnership of which Sharat did
his part and contirbuted 19. At one point Prabhakar hit 4 consecutive fours,
another time he hit 4,4,6 and 4. It was not big hitting but
stroke-playing. Prabhakar was unstoppable and he played all
around the wicket, piercing the field for boundary after boundary.
With batting like this Prabhakar might have taken UMiami to the
Finals had he not missed Friday's games due to classes. Naming him
Man of the Match was a foregone conclusion.