Photo Credit: USA Cricket
- Mid-Atlantic Zone top Group A after an awesome run through their group with 3 wins from 3
- South West Zone top Group B after Day 5 victory over West Zone Reds in what was a virtual Semi-Final.
- 4 Matches scheduled for Finals Day with the Final and 3rd Place Play-Off live streamed with CricClubs
The USA Cricket Men’s Under 19 National Championships has seen a fantastic showcase of youth cricket over the last week with superb action on show at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston, Texas.
After 12 of the 16 matches scheduled for the week, we enter the finals round of classification matches and the National Championships Final on Saturday.
On the penultimate day of group matches, Mid-Atlantic Zone were in sight of being the first side to seal a place in the final after a thrilling win on Day 1 over the Colts which was followed by a more comfortable win on Day 2 over the South Zone by 85 runs. They continued their fine form with Sai Mukkamala, who was at the time the tournament’s leading run-scorer, leading the way again with 69 as Mid-Atlantic Zone chased down West Zones Blues total of 134.
Mid Atlantic bowler Shuja Khan gets a first bump after taking a wicket ©Peter Della Penna/USA CricketEntering Match Day 5, with 3 games remaining, all eyes were on Group B as the unbeaten South West Zone and West Zone Reds squared off in a winner takes all clash to decide who would go to the Mid-Atlantic Zone in the final on Saturday.
West Zone Reds could only post 173 All Out from batting first and one of the stars of the tournament, Rehman Dar led the way with the bat for the South West Zone in the chase moving into the leading run-scorer slot with a fine innings of 71*.
In the days other matches, there was a big win and great joy for the East Zone, who get off the mark for the week with an impressive 88 run win over Midwest Zone, with the first five wicket haul of the tournament going to Sagar Koul of the East Zone.
There was also a huge 10 wicket win earlier for the South Zone over the Colts as the South Zone move into 3rd/4th Place Play-off tomorrow with their 2nd place Group A finish, with a brilliant bowling performance humbling the Colts for 108 All Out as Rohan Phadke took 4 for 17 and Aryan Shah 4 for 36.
Finals Day
As with every game so far every ball of the finals day will be live scored via CricClubs into the updated USA Cricket Match Center. The 3rd/4th Place Play-Off and the Final will also be live streamed. Both live-streams will not feature commentary but will have scoring graphics in stream. These two matches will be broadcast via USA Cricket’s YouTube page.
In addition to the winners and runners-up medals and the National Championships trophy presentation, there will be 3 individual awards at the conclusion of tomorrow’s final matches. These are the following:
- Leading Runscorer Award
- Leading Wicket-Taker Award
- Player of the Tournament Award
NB – The Player of the Tournament is decided on a cumulative vote by the umpires on a 3-2-1 basis in each game.
Schedule
All 4 sides from Group A and Group B will play cross-over matches on Saturday with West Zone Blues and Midwest Zone meeting in the 7th/8th Place match. The two 3rd place finishing sides in the Colts and the East Zone will meet in the 5th/6th Place Match. Then South Zone and West Zone Reds will play out for the bronze medal position in the 3rd/4th Place Play-Off. Then the two unbeaten sides in the tournament will meet in the final with the home favoured South West Zone playing vs Mid-Atlantic Zone.
To see the Tournament Statistics in detail, please click here to see the Stats–Zone.
To see the full extended galleries of photos from the tournament, taken by Peter Della Penna, please click here.
