Half-centuries by Sudershanum and Syed Ensure Huge Victory for Team Red in USAC 2024 - Men's National Championship

Midwest seemed lost throughout the match, resulting in losing third place in the group table

Player of the match, Shuaib Syed, celebrating after scoring half-century / Rifat Malik.

By Rifat Malik and Haider Abbas

USAC 2024 - Men's National Championship has entered the final stage as all the teams are done with their group matches. Team Red was up against Midwest for third position at the table, as both sides were desperate not to finish last. Midwest had one win from their previous two matches while Red was winless so far. The winner of the match would be up for a third-place play-off while the loser would go to the bottom of the tournament.

Toss and Teams

Red won the toss and decided to bat first.

Red Playing XI: Abinav Sudershanum, Arya Garg, Niket Kumar, Rehman Dar, Rishi Ramesh*, Sanat Misra, Shreyan Satheesh, Shuaib Syed, Taha Farooqi, Unmukt Chand †, Varun Mantha

MidWest Playing XI: Bhavya Mehta †, Fahad Babar*, Ferhan Ali, Kevin Philip, Krish Desai, Mittansh Nithiyanandam, Parth Patel, Phani Simhadri, Pranav Madhusoodana, Rayhan Ahmed, Tirth Patel.

Early collapse for Red; Lower order to the rescue

The top order has had a poor tournament thus far, and this match was no exception. Red were 84 for 7 at one point in their innings and things weren’t looking good for them. However, cometh the hour and cometh the men, as Abinav Sudershanum and Shuib Syed made a brilliant partnership of 90, taking the team’s total to 171. Shuaib’s innings of 67 was vital for the team, as Red managed to post the mammoth total of 239. Arya Garg also played a crucial innings of 33 off 29 balls at the end. Ferhan Ali bowled well for Midwest, taking two wickets and giving away just 41 runs.

Horrible start by the Midwest; Consolation by Rayhan Ahmed

Midwest’s top order had been struggling at scoring runs, failing to form any meaningful partnership in the tournament. Their top scorer so far, Fahad Baber, failed to provide a good start and the rest fell like dominos. Bhavya Mehta and Parth Patel formed a small partnership in the middle, keeping the hopes alive for Midwest. However, their wickets all but ensured defeat. There was a good cameo by Rayhan Ahmad at the end but it was nowhere close to what was required to reach the target. In the end, they lost the match by 58 runs.

Player of the Match

Thanks to his wonderful innings of 67 at the end, Shuaib Syed was chosen as player of the match.