Indoor Cricket USA Rising Stars Wins Wanders Cup
Indoor Cricket USA Rising Stars player-manager Lalta Narine collects the prestigious Wanders Cup.
Indoor Cricket USA, with a predominant component of young cricketers of the new generation, distinguished itself at the 23rd Annual 2015 Philadelphia International Cricket Festival, defeating Beverly Hills and Hollywood Cricket Club, to win the “Wander’s Cup” in the Tournament which featured 21 teams, involving “over 300 athletes from 18 different nationalities”. The youngsters also won the hearts and souls of many cricket lovers who watched their excellent display of the thrills, spills, excitement, and overall splendor which the Spirit and Intent of the gentleman’s game of “glorious uncertainty,” created for the pleasure of cricket lovers.
Moreover, ICUSA has been participating for the last five years in the Festival, which seeks “to promote youth development by helping to raise awareness for education and sporting development”, which is a fundamental principle of the ethos of ICUSA. This year’s success is testimony to the evolutionary process of a group of teenage cricketers, whose five years of dedication and discipline of hard work, have catapulted them into a mature respectable cricket team. The team leadership, involving USA’s Under 19 player and Captain Ryan Persaud, Vice-Captain Savan Patel, President/player Lalta Persaud, Manager Mushtaq Khan and Secretary/player Angelo Gonzales, provided efficient and effective guidance, both on and off the field, contributing to the achievement.
Scores in the Wanderers Cup game were, Rising Stars batting first, recovered from a shaky start after losing two wickets in the first over to score133 in their 20 overs of intelligent batting, based on the implementation of the team’s strategic batting plan, which resulted in repairs to the early damage, followed by maintaining and improving the scoring momentum for the rest of the innings, with good contributions from Savan, Lalta and Rilvan. In reply Beverly Hills scored 81 for 9 in their 20 overs, after being in a hopeless position at 29 for 8 in 15 overs. Savan accounted for 3 wickets for 6 runs and Ryan 2 wickets for 10 runs in a display of intricate spin bowling. The bowlers were backed up by superb fielding featuring two good catches by Faisal Taj and an assortment of athletic ground fielding by Shaurya Salwan, Haider Ali, Aamir Salim, Arshaad Farrouq, Yash Thaker and Angelo Gonzalez, supported by sound wicket-keeping by Lalta Persaud, who demonstrated his cricketing versatility by substituting for the team’s keeper Charan Rubal Singh, whose excellent keeping in the prior matches, contributed significantly to the team’s success.
In the preliminary matches, Haider, Charan, and Faisal, consistently demonstrated their all-round cricketing ability, while Angelo Gonzales and Junaid (Ricky) stabilized the middle order batting, at regular challenging periods throughout the Tournament. Ryan batted intelligently, applying caution, mixing attack with defense, as was suited to the particular situations. Arshaad and Yash bowling needed more consistency but the fielding of the entire team, especially the youthful Shaurya, Arshaad, Savan, Yash, Aamir, and the matured Angie, was a pleasant revelation, which augurs well for the future. Lalta’s spin bowling throughout the Tournament was superb, as he varied his flight, pace, line and length to weave a web of mystery for batsmen, many of whom were unable to cope, as reflected in such figures as, among others, 4 for 17 and 4 for 22 in the matches vs., British Officers CC & Toronto CC respectively, in his 4 over spells.
Indoor Cricket USA Rising Stars team that won the 2015 Philadelphia International Cricket Festival tournament.
The high point within the boundary, which became the “talk” of the tournament, occurred in Rising Stars’ 4th preliminary game vs. the undefeated, very strong and experienced Toronto Cricket Club, who were the Tournament winner in past tournaments, and who became the eventual overall winners of the 2015 one. In that game ICUSA executed a clinical defeat on the former championship team in a match whereby the Raising Stars were at their very best in the batting, bowling and fielding departments of the game. In so doing, they cautiously laid a sound platform and built upon it to capture a leading momentum, and maintained it throughout the game. Scores were: Raising Stars 156 for 8 in 20 overs with Faisal Taj (39), Charan Singh (38) and Haider Ali (27).
In reply Toronto scored 133 all out in 18 overs with Lalta capturing 4 for 22. The team’s victory in that match generated images of biblical proportions involving the iconic tale of David & Goliath, as it became the talk of the afternoon at hotels, bars, cricket grounds, and other tournament venues. The win ignited euphoria among the entire ICUSA’s touring party, as congratulatory and other appreciative sentiments flowed in abundance. That euphoria and its accompanying glory of the victory lingered with ICUSA, not only for the rest of the tournament but even beyond. In that game Lalta Persaud bowled one of the most remarkable overs ever in the history of the Festival. It was a maiden wicket over, against one of Toronto’s most attacking batsmen, at a strategic point in the game. The first and third deliveries were well-flighted of varied lengths, lines and turns, on or outside the off stump. The batsman switched at them all, and was beaten mainly by flight, so he missed them all. With his pride at stake and pressure building, and with some spectators laughing at the comical display, he essayed a reverse sweep on the fourth delivery and again missed. He then groped at the fifth delivery and again missed. As the comedy intensified, much to the spectators’ enjoyment, he greeted the sixth delivery, which was a quicker one, with the reverse sweep again, as the ball eluded his bat and somehow found a path between his legs and uprooted the middle stump. That dismissal was greeted with such hilarity both, within and beyond the boundary. One exuberant spectator in a fit of profound elation fell backwards off his chair ending up on the grass, with the chair on top of him, thereby adding to the spectacle of a most memorable entertaining dismissal in the cricket game. At the end of the day that spectator had to seek refuge in the arms of a massaging chair at the nearby shopping mall to restore his physical fitness so as to continue his enjoyment of the tour.
Beyond the boundary, the highlight of ICUSA’s touring party occurred at the closing banquet, when the MC speaking on behalf of the tournament organizers, referred to the Indoor Cricket USA team as a set of young teenage boys, who entered the Festival five years ago, as a piece of cricketing work in progress and they have now evolved and developed themselves into a formidable respectable team of young adult cricketers who are an asset to the Festival, which is designed to promote the evolution of youth cricketers. Those inspiring words resonated with the ICUSA touring party.
Finally, while on the field, there was an admirable enduring display of team spirit involving the blending of youth with the experiences of a few veterans, off the field, there was a large contingent of supporters comprising of families and friends providing an assortment of mental, moral and even material support which facilitated the solidarity of the ICUSA’s family and motivated the players to perform to their full potentials. The joy and satisfaction of the ICUSA touring party was enhanced by a genuine cooperative spirit by all, in an event that constitutes a cherished memory for all those involved. It would be remiss, not to mention the role played by our cricketers Kawal Persaud, Raj Bisnauth and Conrad Carbon, who were unavoidably absent from this particular tour, but who, using modern technology to its fullest, kept in contact, almost hourly, with the team, giving unflinching support by way of encouraging sentiments and suggestions based on their years of involvement with the culture of ICUSA. Although, they were physically absent, the ICUSA tour party felt their spiritual presence throughout the tour and is very grateful for their involvement in its memorable accomplishment.
