United creates history in Arkansas
BENTONVILLE/ARKANSAS – USA: United Cricket Club created history by becoming the first team to win the Major Cricket League (MCL) Arkansas on Sunday when they defeated highly fancied Titans cricket club at the Roger’s Playing field.
United started the tournament badly losing to Warriors CC but ended on a high when they defeated unbeaten Titans in the championship match. Batting first on a windy morning United scored 127/7 off their 20 overs which looked an under par score. However, their bowling was top notch on the day and brought home a most famous victory for the club, as Titans were bowled out for 115 with an over to spare.
Titans skipper Chitranjan Rathod was left high and dry on 28 not out when he looked as if he could have taken his team to victory in the end. He made an aggressive 28 not out and looked in charge but ran out of partners at the other end, which sparked wild celebrations from the United camp.
The star of the show for United was man of the match Satyageet Padmanabhi who grabbed 4/24 off his four overs to ensure that Titans had no momentum going for the target. His efforts and that of Mahesh Nataranjan 2/22 enabled Titans to take tickets at regular intervals, as chasing the small target proved difficult. Apart from Rathod, all rounder Rakesh Nalamanchu 20 and Shit Seetala 27 were good.
Earlier Anant Patel stroked an aggressive 23 to get United off to a good start but Happy Patel was able to bring Titans right back into the contest. He bowled economically and also took three wickets as his spell of 3/10 in four overs left Titans in a hole. However, they were able to work their way to a fighting score thanks to Jaiman Patel 22, Prem Thirumurthy 20 and Anil Jasti 18 not out.
The best batsman of the tournament was Saikiran Valabojo, the top bowler was Nasir Charlie Javid, the top fielder Naseer Khan and the most valuable player was Gurjinder Brar.
At the end of the tournament chairman of Cricket Council USA (CCUSA) Mahammad Qureshi said he was happy with the way it went. “I want to thank all the teams that took part in this tournament, United, Titans, Warriors and World All Stars. You all played a part in history by being part of the first MCL tournament to take part in Arkansas. We are grateful for your assistance in building cricket in these parts and judging from what I saw over the past few days the future looks good for cricket here.”
SCORES
United CC 127/7 (20) (Anant Patel 23, Jaiman Patel 22, Prem Thirumurthy 20, Anil Jasti 18no, Happy Patel 3/10) vs Titans 115 all out (19) (Chitranjan Rathod 28no, Rakesh Nalamanchu 20, Chit Seetala 27, Satyageet Padmanabhi 4/24, Mahesh Nataranjan 2/22) – United CC won by 12 runs.
