The USA Cricket team tour of UAE and Oman recently concluded, with 50 games against Nepal and Kenya, and a series of three games against Oman. Things got off to the perfect start for the team with a fantastic first up win against Nepal at Abu Dhabi.
From there things got a bit tougher, as the batsman in particular struggled in foreign conditions against the pace of Kenya, and the wiley local bowlers from Oman. Coach Pubudu Dassanayake is being realistic about the struggles his team faced.
“We were exposed a bit, especially in Oman. But that is exactly what I wanted in a sense, to know where we stand in all areas.”
There was a huge amount to be taken from the tour for #TeamUSA as the three sides they played were not only higher in the ICC rankings than them but three sides who have their sights on spots in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier after World Cricket League Division 2 in Namibia in January.
Whilst one win and four losses won’t have been the final tally that the squad were hoping for in advance of the tour, the positive learnings will stand them in good stead going forward into 2018 and beyond.
Summary of results:
1st Dec 2017 – USA v Nepal – Abu Dhabi, UAE – USA beat Nepal by 5 wickets
2nd Dec 2017 – USA v Kenya – Abu Dhabi, UAE – Kenya beat USA by 4 wickets
4th Dec 2017 – USA v Oman – Muscat, Oman – Oman beat USA by 117 runs
5th Dec 2017 – USA v Oman – Muscat, Oman – Oman beat USA by 89 runs
7th Dec 2017 – USA v Oman – Muscat, Oman – Oman beat USA by 3 wickets
Top performers:
Roy Silva ended up as USA’s top run scorer and top wicket taker on tour, with 106 runs and 9 wickets. He scored his 106 runs at a strike rate of 90 and an average of 26.50 with a top score of 51. His wickets were taken at an average of 14, a strike rate of 26.8, and with an economy rate of 3.14. His best figures were 3/31 against Oman in the last match of the tour, whilst he also took 3/36 against Oman in an earlier game.
Silva wanted to dedicate his performances to his late father in law Gamini Ediriweera, but was at pains to point out that individual accolades are not what he is chasing.
“I’m personally happy with my performance, but I expect to contribute more with the bat in the future. The conditions were excellent for cricket and I tried to give 100% for the team. I think we struggled to recover after back-to-back matches, especially those of us all-rounders who were batting and bowling continuously”
?️WATCH as Roy Silva played some wonderful shots during his quick-fire 50, that came off just 47 balls today. Oman are chasing USA’s total of 222 – LIVE: https://t.co/7bUAu8WRY2 #WeAreUSACricket #USAvOMA pic.twitter.com/vZBJgNwprJ
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) December 7, 2017
Timil Patel finished second behind Silva on both the run scoring and wicket taking charts, showing just how important these two allrounders are to the US Team. Patel scored 80 runs at an average of 20, a strike rate of just over 70, and a top score of 57. His 57 in the last match against Oman was also the highest individual score of the tour.
His 7 wickets were taken at an average of just over 11, a strike rate of just under 20, and an economy rate of 3.46. His best figures came against Oman in the 2nd match between the sides where he took 4/28. Unfortunately he was unable to bowl in the final match of the tour, which may have made all the difference in what was a tight encounter.
WATCH?️: The very best action from the first innings of Match 2 between #TeamUSA and Oman in Muscat, Timil Patel’s spell of 4 for 28 wonderful to watch.#WeAreUSACricket #USAvOMA pic.twitter.com/IBwusEFEvV
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) December 5, 2017
Japen Patel ended up with the best individual bowling figures of the tour, taking 4/8 in the win against Nepal. About his experience on the tour he said…
“It felt good bowling well in decent batting conditions. It’s nice seeing the hard work I’ve been putting in turning into performances for the team.”
He was also realistic about what the results on tour mean for the group moving forward.
“Now we can go back and train hard on the things we need to work on.”
Here’s the first clips of action from Abu Dhabi as Japen Patel takes two wickets in his first over to put USA in a great early position vs Nepal#WeAreUSACricket #USAvNEP pic.twitter.com/Bfr56JZJFE
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) December 1, 2017
Stay tuned to the website and our social channels for information on what’s next for #TeamUSA
