DreamCricket.com Press Release
Glen Hall’s blistering 81 set the stage for the Global New Jersey Daredevils to upend the Bedessee New York Destroyers by 36 runs on Monday afternoon in the championship match of the Radiant Info Twenty20 USA 2010 as some 500 people watched at Watsessing Park in Bloomfield, N.J.
1) Global NJ Daredevils receive a check for $5000 and a trophy from Venu Myneni and Vinod Koduru of Radiant Info. Photo Courtesy of Dreamcricket.com
Hall was named the Headstrong MVP of the Final for his knock which came in just 56 balls and included five fours and five sixes. “I know that my team need me to perform in the finals,” said Hall. “I just wanted to go out there, stick it out and I’m happy with my performance.”
In the competition organized by DreamCricket.com, New York Destroyers, the defending champions, were captained once again by the experienced Barrington Bartley (29), a USA and Jamaica U19 cricketer. Also playing for New York were US-born Akeem Dodson of the 2006 ICC U-19 World Cup team who successfully made a transition to the USA senior team; and Azurdeen Mohammed (19) – a USA U19 cricketer who scored 70 runs in a match against the mighty Australia at the ICC U19 World Cup earlier this year.
This year, New Jersey injected new talent as they took on their old rivals from across the river. In the NJ squad were Captain Neil McGarrell (38), who played 4 Tests and 17 ODIs for West Indies and captained Guyana; Jermaine Lawson (28) – the fast bowler capable of unleashing the cricket ball at 93 MPH who played 13 Tests and 13 ODIs as an international cricketer for West Indies; Aditya Mishra (28), who is a former first-class cricketer from India; and Siddharth Mehta (27) the all-rounder who trained at the highly regarded Kiran More Cricket Academy in India.
Washington Senators, New England Pioneers, Gentlemen of Philadelphia and Atlantic All-Stars were the other four teams in the tournament, which were eliminated in earlier rounds.
Man of the Match Glen Hall as he launches another ball into orbit as he raced to 81 runs. Photo Courtesy of Dreamcricket.com
In Monday’s final, the Destroyers won the toss and elected to send the Daredevils in to bat, but were soon regretting their decision as Hall and wicketkeeper Oneil Powell tore into the opening attack of George Adams and Twain Walter. The two added 46 for the first wicket in six overs before Powell finally fell for 16 to the first ball of the seventh over when he skied a slog that eventually came down at point where Adams completed the dismissal off his own bowling.
New York then gave New Jersey a jolt by taking two wickets in six balls to make it 52 for 3 as Walter and Barrington Bartley dismissed Aditya Mishra and Tony Powell for back-to-back ducks. However, Sean Stanislaus came to the wicket and set about launching a counterattack with Hall to regain control of the innings. No one was spared as Stanislaus scorched the New York attack with four sixes.
“I think he batted well,” said Daredevils captain Neil McGarrell about Hall’s performance. “He had the potential, but he keep running himself out in the previous games. We told him he had to just watch himself running and then once he got going, he hit the ball well. He came big in his innings today.”
As the Daredevils innings started to stutter at 147 for 7 in the 18th over, McGarrell came out and put the foot back on the accelerator, blasting 22 off only seven deliveries to give his team a formidable total to defend, 174 for 7 in 20 overs, the highest score of the tournament.
New York’s chase got off to a disastrous start when Andrew Gonsalves was given out LBW on the first ball of the reply bowled by Jermaine Lawson. Four balls later, Lawson pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring injury and after trying to bowl the final ball of the over, he went down in a heap on the ground and it was doubtful if he would be able to continue.
Lawson showed tremendous heart by digging deep to continue and off a shortened run up, he scythed through the top order to cripple the Destroyers. On the third ball of his next over, he clean bowled Dennis Evans for 9. Then on the first ball of the fifth over, Thomas was caught in the gully by Nandlal for 9 to give Lawson his third.
Despite the fall of the wickets, the Destroyers were not going to go down lightly as Akeem Dodson, Nicholas Standford and Bartley gave a spirited fightback. The three managed to bring the score to 86 for 5 and gave New York hope that they might be able to cross the target. But when Bartley perished, it looked like the Daredevils were going to wrap up a resounding victory.
Adams and Kavishwar Bridgepaul kept New York alive with a series of massive hits. On the last ball of the 17th, Bridgepaul perished going for another maximum and was caught at mid on by Mishra for 24. Two balls later, McGarrell closed out the match by dismissing Walter to seal the championship for the Global New Jersey Daredevils and the $5000 grand prize.
At the post match presentation, Mishra was named the DreamCricket.com Most Impactful Player according to the Impact Index formula calculations. Besides his contributions with the bat, Mishra also took 11 wickets in 3 matches. Kevin Darlington of Destroyers was the EBC Radio Most Impactful Bowler in the tournament. From the Daredevils, Neil McGarrell was named SG Cricket Most Impactful Batsman of the tournament and Keith Hibbert the Collabera Most Impactful Wicketkeeper.
Among the Under-19 cricketers, US-born Cameron Mirza of Atlantic All-Stars was named the Bedessee Most Promising Young Cricketer and Regis Burton, also of the All-Stars was named the DreamCricket.com Most Promising US-Born Cricketer. Another young cricketer, Kavishwar Bridgepaul was named the Compass Tours Best Fielder of the final for taking three catches, including a brilliant diving effort on the midwicket boundary.
DreamCricket Academy’s young Under-15 cricketers received awards from Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula for their performances at the USA National Tournament and the CCA Inviational tournament in California. As the award ceremony drew to an end, Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula – New Jersey’s Deputy Speaker, and Radiant Info founders Vinod Koduru and Venu Myneni presented the runners-up trophy to Bedessee New York Destroyers championship trophy to the Global New Jersey Daredevils as sponsors and USA Cricket officials looked on.
The following MoM awards were also distributed for the previous rounds.
Preliminary Round (Group-A):
Vedicsoft MoM: Sheldon Smith (New England Pioneers v Gentlemen of Philadelphia)
CEERA Investments MoM: Keith Hibbert (Global NJ Daredevils v Gentlemen of Philadelphia)
Collabera MoM: Kumar Nandlall (Global NJ Daredevils v New England Pioneers)
Preliminary Round (Group-B):
Paradise Biryani MoM: Andrew Gonsalves (Bedessee NY Destroyers v Atlantic All Stars)
NIIT Technologies MoM: Andrew Gonsalves (Bedessee NY Destroyers v Washington Senators)
Vedicsoft Mom: Srinivasa Santhanam (Atlantic All Stars v Washington Senators)
Semi Final #1:
Compass Tours MoM: Aditya Mishra (Global NJ Daredevils v Atlantic All Stars)
Semi Final #2:
Compass Tours MoM: Barrington Bartley (Bedessee NY Destroyers v New England Pioneers)