The second day (Thursday March 15, 2018) of the American College National Championship in South Florida saw one one win for each of the three participating Canadian University cricket teams. Ryerson, with one win on each of the two days of this tournament, is one of six teams with two wins from two games going into Friday’s games. The other 2/0 teams in a field of 21 university cricket clubs are: New Jersey IT, University of Texas Dallas, University of South Florida, Texas A&M and Rutgers. Quarter-finals are scheduled for Saturday with semi-finals and the final slated for Sunday (March 18, 2018).
Ryerson University added an eight wicket victory over Florida Tech on Thursday to the opening day success against against West Virginia. McGill began with a 9 run win against University of Pennsylvania then lost by 10 wickets to New Jersey IT. Wilfrid Laurier opened with a loss to University of Dallas Texas but beat Dartmouth later in the day with a D/L system against Dartmouth. Laurier’s 170/4 from 18 overs rather than 20 overs meant Dartmouth needed 75 from 6 overs to win. Dartmouth made a useful looking 65/1 from 6 overs; so Laurier won.
Ryerson surge to 8 wicket win
Florida Tech’s openers posted 35 for the first wicket that fell at the end of the 6th over. Pritul Kikani top-scored with 35 as Florida Tech reached 117/8 after 20 overs. Ahmed Ali took 2/9 from 2 overs. Bilal Khan hit a brisk 17 as Ryerson surged to 43/1 from 2.5 overs. Fellow opening bat Hassan Khan went on to 43* (26 balls) and with solid support from Jean-Paul Rocke 38* (21 b) Ryerson crossed the finish line at 118/2 from 10.2 overs.
Ryerson is due to play a third game later on Friday against a team not yet determined.
Amrit Kumar half-century and bowlers bring McGill victory
McGill ended 135 all out after 19.5 overs against University of Pennsylvania when Amit Kumar was stumped for 74. Kumar’s innings proved to have given the McGill bowlers a total they were able to defend as U of Pennsylvania was held to 126/9 from 20 over. So McGill won by 9 runs.
U of Penn opener Harsh Solanki fell to Arham Syed for 47 of 90/2 after 13.2 overs and Syed took a wicket with his next ball: 90/3 (13.3 ovs). Asad Jan and Arsum Nadeem each took 2 wickets in the closing overs as McGill took control of the game. Asad Jan ended with 2/15 from 4 overs and Arsum Nadeem 2/22 from 3 overs. Arham Syed took 2/3 from his only, but rather effective, over.
Earlier in the day New Jersey IT powered to 98/0 from 8.2 overs for a ten wicket win against a McGill total of 96/6 from 18 overs. Five McGill batsmen made double-figures, headed by 19 from Sidharth Chugh. Extras also contributed 19 to the McGill innings. Vixar Patel 49* and Salik Iqbal 43* lead New Jersey to victory.
McGill is scheduled to play Everest on Friday.
Arman Kapoor leads DLS win for Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier began with a 69-run loss to University of Texas Dallas but beat Dartmouth under the D/L system after reaching 170/4 from 18 overs. Dartmouth made a useful looking 65/1 from 6 overs but had faced a DLS target of 75 from 6 overs. Thanks to Hassan Mirza for confirming the DLS target.
Armaan Kapoor top-scored for Laurier with 41 (20 balls) of the 170/4 against Dartmouth. The top five Laurier batters each scored 20 or more which is a promising sign, particularly as most are unlikely to be playing outdoor cricket regularly during the Canadian winter months. It may have been a factor in Laurier’s 117 all out earlier in the day against U of T Dallas. Hrishi Modi with 32 and Hussein Akbar 32* chipped in against Dartmouth. Bashar Asfaq took an early wicket – Dartmouth 1/1 off 5 balls – and ended with 1/8 from 2 overs. An unbroken second wicket stand of 64 between Ankit Kumar (33*) and Khizar Hussain (30*) proved not quite enough for Dartmouth.
Earlier in the day Ahad Khan struck 44 runs in an opening stand of 72/1 from 10.3 over for University of Texas Dallas against Laurier. Captain Pratik Dengle hit 42* as U of T Dallas ended on 186/5 after 20 overs. Bashar Ashfaq, batting at four, made 36 and Ali Sattar, batting at six, 26 in Laurier’s reply of 117 all out from 18.2 overs. Four U of T Dallas bowlers each took 2 wickets in a 69 run win for the Texans.
Wilfrid Laurier is due to play University of Massachusetts Lowell on Friday.