West Virginia & Carnegie Mellon Share Honors !
An overcast, and often rainy autumn weekend, with chilly temperatures in the 40s did not dampen spirits as the 3 American College Cricket teams in the Pittsburgh area did their best to overcome the wet outfield, and run up. Eventually the rain won when it came in the Final, after the first inning and the game was called off to avoid playing in slippery conditions.
Colorful fall foliage ringed the field as play happened despite the rain. An often overlooked advantage of American “cricket fields” is the great drainage, which allows play soon after even a downpour of rain, as long as the run up area, and the pitch itself is dry enough.
None of the teams had played since March 2020 and so this weekend was valuable as the 2022 National Championship in March will be here soon enough. Pitt defeated Carnegie Mellon in the first game, decreased to 16 overs after a rain delay, scoring 88/4 after bowling out Carnegie for 87 with Saurabh Joshi taking 5 wickets for 5 runs.
West Virginia Mountaineers galloped to a huge total, particularly given the conditions of 188 for 5 led by an opening partnership of 122 between MVP Depesh Madal 79 and Vishal Verma 53. They then got Pitt out for 92. Sai Krishna (WVU) took 3 wickets for 25.
On Sunday West Virginia made a paltry 106/6 but Carnegie Mellon started off firing on all cylinders, aiming not just to win, but to end with the Highest Net Run rate, which they did earning a Finals place vs Carnegie Mellon ! Rain however ensured the Final could not be completed and both teams were declared joint winners. Sai Satish took 2 more wickets
