Harvard wins vs Syracuse to North East Championship !

MVP Darshan Prakash (Syracuse) 95* (11 fours, 7 sixes including 32 runs in 1 over: 4,4,6,6,6,6 ) and 88*.

The American College Cricket North East Championship presented by SLING. Played for the Deryck Aaron Jodah Trophy and televised on SONY Entertainment Television in USA & Canada. 2nd Semi Final RUTGERS vs SYRACUSE - televised 2 pm Sat Feb 25

Kamran Kamal 42 and Kavin Fraser 22 got Rutgers off to a great start and when Fraser was out it was 70 for 1 off 8.4 overs. Rutgers’ big score Haider Ali only made 13 as he and Kamal both fell to catches by the Keeper Joshi off the swinging Darshan Prakash, and Rutgers was stalled with less than 5 overs to go of the reduced 16 overs. Syracuse had taken the upper hand !

But six machine Ehsen Wajeeh slammed 3 sixes in 26* off 14 balls, whilst Mohammed Chaudhry smashed 2 sixes & 2 fours in his 28* off 14 balls and Rutgers struck 55 in the last 4 overs, going from 92 for 3 to 147 for 3. This gave Syracuse a tough 9.19 required run rate ! Prakash finished with 2 for 21.

Kavin Fraser struck in quick succession, sending 2 batsmen back to the pavilion and Syracuse was 21 for 2 off 3.4 overs! But Mangirish Rajadhyraksha joined Darshan Prakash and, with Prakash doing most of the scoring they steadied the ship but after 10 overs they had a run rate of only 6.9 which meant they needed to score at 13.17 runs per over. They then hit 3 sixes and took 21 off the next over, then 14 but a tight 13th over by Kamal meant that with 18 balls left Syracuse needed 40 runs ! A very tough task !

But Rutgers had not counted on Clarke Kent turning into Superman ! Prakash slammed 2 fours, & 4 sixes in a row for 32 runs in the 14 th over ! It was an amazing display that crushed the bowler Hamza Wajeeh. Rajadhyaksha then struck 2 fours in the 15th over to give Syracuse an astonishing win !

Of the 127 run winning partnership Prakash made an amazing 87 runs. His 95* included 11 fours 7 sixes – 86 runs in boundaries in 44 balls ! his partner played valuable backup and struck 3 fours & 2 sixes as Syracuse secured a place in the Final !
FULL SCORECARD :https://www.crichq.com/#matches/440319/1st_innings

There was no question that Darshan Prakash was game MVP !

FINAL – HARVARD vs SYRACUSE – televised Sun Feb 26.

Harvard was now in a position to win an Ivy League Championship and a Regional in the same season – a testament to their growth as a club since 2012! Their Captain Vik Jayaram won the toss and chose to bat on what was effectively a Home wicket for many of the Harvard players.

A good opening partnership between the consistent Gopalkrishnan 17 and Jayaram 28, of 47 in 5.2 overs but then 3 wickets fell quickly and Harvard was 64 for 3 in 9.1 overs, whilst struggling to score.

But a quickfire 54 in 29 balls by Manik Kuchroo,with 3 fours and 5 sixes took Harvard to 136 for 6 in the reduced 16 overs. A run rate of 8.50 was not bad but well within Syracuse’s reach.

Syracuse lost an early wicket but Darshan Prakash continued where he left off in the Semi Final vs Rutgers when he made 95* and at 47 before the 2nd wicket fell, his partner had made 6 of the 47 run partnership. A 52 run partnership followed with Thushant Pillai of which Pillai made 16.

But Syracuse was always behind the required run rate, and bursts of scoring from Prakash who smashed 8 fours & 4 sixes in 88*, had Syracuse needing 17 in the last over but Harvard’s new tall fast bowler Dhruv Reddy kept it tight and the batsmen could only manage 6 to give Harvard victory by 11 runs !
FULL SCORECARD :https://www.crichq.com/#matches/440355/1st_innings

Manik Kuchroo edged out Darshan Prakash for game MVP.

Diane Jodah presented the Trophies to the champion Harvard, which now had 2 titles, including the Ivy League Champion, under their belt this season !
Lloyd Jodah, Dhruvi Shah & Anajali Anathula could be heard on the commentary.