Pranay Suri and Coach Robin Singh in February

USA vs NAMIBIA – Steven Taylor cracked another sparkling century to put USA in a strong position against Namibia. Together with Cameron Mirza he put on 122 before Mirza was lbw for 14. He had played smart though hand held his end whilst Taylor smacked the ball all around and out of the small field (boundaries averaged 50 yards). 

Taylor, a high school student, was next to go for 102 with USA at 151. His 102 came off 74 balls and included 14 fours and 4 sixes, and was a magnificent follow up to his 140 in his previous innings. It’ll be interesting to see if Taylor gets to play enough quality cricket in the next few years to maximise his tremendous batting talent.  

Sewdial 24, Joshi 6 and Sandhu 2 fell in quick succession and USA was 188 for 5 after 28 overs. 

17 year old left hander Amarnath Persaud 40 ( 48 balls, 4 fours) and 18 year old Pranay Suri 55* (70 balls, 5 fours & 1 six) steadied the ship with a 68 runs partnership. Both tall talented batsmen fulfilling their promise and putting together important innings. 

Salman Ahmad showed the depth of USA’s batting ,contributing 21* as USA finished on 312 for 6 in 50 overs. J Baard too 3 wickets for 28 runs. 

Namibia started off at an excellent scoring rate and with a 2nd wicket partnership of 50 by Vuuren and Myburgh were 82 for 1 in 11 overs when Sandhu got Vuuren lbw. Shahid Hamid then took 2 wickets and Namibia was reeling at 107 for 5 in 20.5 overs. Lotter and Erasmus then put on 90 runs before Erasmus was bowled by off spinner Suri, who was bowling very controlled. 

Erasmus’ 55 came off 50 balls, and included 4 fours and 1 six. Groenewald 25, then helped Lotter take Namibia to 251 off 44 overs, still within range of a win. 

Then Ahmad struck, taking both Groenewald brilliantly caught by 12th man Prashant Nair (City College), and Lotter. Mital Patel (Rutgers) removed Coobe and Ahmed picked up his 4th wicket to finish off Namibia for a well-fought 266 in 46.4 overs. 

Pranay Suri had a very good all round performance, but Steven Taylor’s belligerent century earned Taylor his 2nd Man of the Man Award. 

USA won by 46 runs, but is placed 7th in the tournament. USA faces a must-win game against Afghanistan on Monday.

CANADA vs VANUATU:

Canada got their 2nd win comfortably today, defeating Vanuatu at the Merrion Cricket club Ground in Dublin,I reland in the ICC World Cup Under 19 Qualifier. 

Canada’s Juvarajan set back Vanuatu’s middle order, taking 3 for 47 in his 9 overs, before Manny Aulakh took care of the tail end, getting 3 for 11 off 7.5 overs. 

Set to make 146 to win, Canada’s openers put on 93 runs before 17 year old Nitesh Kumar was out for 61, made off 48 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. 

All rounder Kumar scored 100* in Canada’s first game, and made his First Class debut for Canada in 2009 and has a HS of 74 in his 4 First Class innings. 

Shah 39* and Edghill 28* took Canada home for the win in 25.3 overs. Canada has 2 wins and 1 loss.

Canada’s Manny Aulakh