- USA national players Jessy Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar and Nosthush Kenjige all starred in the latest weekend of Minor League Cricket Franchise Exhibition Matches.
- Shaheer Hasan, representing Chicago Blasters, hit the latest hundred, in a comprehensive victory over Michigan Cricket Stars as part of a record opening partnership.
The latest installment of Minor League Cricket Franchise Exhibition Matches featured a thrilling super over victory for Houston Hurricanes over Irving Mustangs. These Exhibition Matches were relatively low-scoring compared to the last two weekends, but still produced plenty of drama.
These Franchise Exhibition Matches showcased some of the best cricketing talent in the country, with numerous USA national team players in action. Saurabh Netravalkar, captain of Golden State Grizzlies and the USA national team, took 2-23 against East Bay Blazers, but it was not enough to earn his side a victory. Instead, a strong bowling performance from Josh Dascombe, 3-22, took the East Bay Blazers over the line. On the following day, Golden State Grizzlies recorded their first win of the exhibition matches, as they beat Silicon Valley Strikers by 3 wickets. It was Rudolph Hinds’ unbeaten 39 off just 17 balls that helped take the Grizzlies over the line, but East Bay Blazers still sit at the top of the table with four wins from five.
Meanwhile, another USA player took center stage on the opposite coast, as Jessy Singh produced an excellent bowling performance for New Jersey Somerset Cavaliers CC, taking 5-11 against NJ Stallions including an impressive caught and bowled.
WHAT A CATCH!! ?
?Jessy Singh was on fire with the ball for New Jersey Somerset Cavaliers as he took 5 wickets for 11 runs in his 4 overs vs New Jersey Stallions in last weekend's Franchise Exhibition Match including this epic caught and bowled!!#MinorLeagueCricket? pic.twitter.com/6v2Nl1kerW
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) September 30, 2020
This sublime bowling performance came after New Jersey Somerset Cavaliers CC posted 166 for 7, courtesy of a quick 55 from Syed Abdullah. This proved to be too great a target for their eastern rivals, with New England Eagles folding tamely to 72 all out.
In the Central Conference, Nosthush Kenjige took 4-20 to skittle Austin Athletics, handing a comprehensive 69-run victory to Irving Mustangs. On the previous day, however, the Central Conference saw an incredibly tight affair, with Houston Hurricanes matching Irving Mustangs’ score of 211. Houston Hurricanes went on to win what was the first ever super over in Minor League Cricket.
Elsewhere in the Central Conference, Michigan Cricket Stars suffered two defeats in two days. On Saturday, Chicago Catchers bowled Michigan Cricket Stars out for just 132, courtesy of 4-20 from Sikander Soleja, while an unbeaten 65 from Arjun Kumar took his Chicago side over the line. Michigan’s luck did not improve on the following day, as they posted 169/7, only for Chicago Blasters to win by ten wickets, after an impressive century from Shaheer Hasan in partnership with Fahad Babar. This weekend’s action left Chicago Blasters unbeaten with two wins from two, while Michigan Cricket Stars are yet to get going really.
Minor League Cricket Week 3: Shaheer Hassan and Fahad Babar amomg the runs and the story of Sanjay Krishnamurthi.https://t.co/vQ5wwCPm8m
— Smit Patel (@smit2592) October 1, 2020
Please see below for a summary of the results from the weekend’s matches:
Franchise Exhibition Match Results:
Saturday 26th September
Howe Athletic Complex
New Jersey Somerset Cavaliers CC: 166/7(20.0)
NJ Stallions: 72/10 (14.2)
New Jersey Somerset Cavaliers CC won by 94 runs
Arroyo Park
East Bay Blazers: 144/4 (20.0)
Silicon Valley Strikers: 146/3 (19.2)
Silicon Valley Strikers won by 7 wickets
Keney Park
Empire State Titans: 162/9 (20.0)
New England Eagles: 166/7 (19.5)
New England Eagles won by 3 wickets
McKinney Cricket Ground
Irving Mustangs: 211/5 (20.0)
Houston Hurricanes: 211/6 (20.0)
Houston Hurricanes won by super over
Skokie Sports Park
Michigan Cricket Stars: 132/10 (18.4)
Chicago Catchers: 134/3 (17.3)
Chicago Catchers won by 7 wickets
Arroyo Park
East Bay Blazers: 153/6 (20.0)
Golden State Grizzlies: 143/7 (20.0)
East Bay Blazers won by 10 runs
Sunday 27th September
Arroyo Park
Silicon Valley Strikers: 155/6 (20.0)
Golden State Grizzlies: 161/7 (19.2)
Golden State Grizzlies won by 3 wickets
McKinney Cricket Ground
Irving Mustangs: 184/5 (20.0)
Austin Athletics: 115/10 (19.0)
Irving Mustangs won by 69 runs
Prarie Lakes Park
Michigan Cricket Stars: 169/7 (20.0)
Chicago Blasters: 174/0 (16.3)
Chicago Blasters won by 10 wickets
More details on Minor League Cricket can be found here: https://www.majorleaguecricket.com/minorleaguecricket.
