Mid Atlantic Reaches the Final after their Undefeated run in the USAC 2024 - Men's National Championship

Team West suffers first defeat of tournament despite good performances by Zahid Zakhil and Sanjay Krishnamurthi

S. Wiig hitting the winning runs for Mid-Atlantic, taking his side to the Final / Rifat Malik.

By Rifat Malik and Haider Abbas

The USAC 2024 - Men's National Championship entered its final stage as two undefeated teams battled for a spot in the final. Mid-Atlantic had the most in-form players of the tournament and defeated Team East and Team Blue in their first two matches. After defeating West in the all-important game, they will face Southwest in USAC 2024 - Men's National Championship Final. West has also been in hot form, winning their previous two encounters against Team Blue and Team East convincingly. They will fight for the second position against Team South.

Toss and Teams

Mid-Atlantic won the toss and decided to bowl first.

Mid Atlantic Playing XI: Danesh Patel, Dhruv Pawar, Kunwarjeet Singh, Manoj Acharya, Noman Iftikhar, Prannav Chettipalayam †, Preet Shah, Ritwik Behera, Sai Teja Mukmulla*, Stephen Wiig, Yasir Mohammed

West Playing XI: Abhishek Paradkar, Devam Shrivastava, Rahul Jariwala* †, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Saurabh Netravalkar, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Skanda Rohit Sharma, Umang Parikh, Vatsal Vaghela, Vedant Jain, Zahid Zakhil.

Batting masterclass by Zakhil but the rest fail big time

The top order of West failed big time in their most important game of the group stage. Zahid Zakhil was the only batter in the top order that seemed to be fighting for that final spot. Batters at the other end of the pitch kept giving away their wickets with poor shot selection. His 63 innings were the only thing that kept the hopes of West alive. Rohit Sharma’s 39 provided some support from the other end, taking the team’s total to a competitive 183. Manoj Acharya was brilliant with the ball for Mid Atlantic, taking three important wickets at the top.

Steady Start by the Openers; Finished comfortably by Singh and Patel

In response, the openers of Mid-Atlantic were calm and cautious, making sure they didn’t give away their wickets cheaply. They managed to build an opening partnership of 43, making it easier for the incoming batters to settle in. Kunwarjeet Singh played a masterclass, scoring a much-needed half-century, taking the match away from the grasp of West. Danesh Patel scored an undefeated 37 off 36 balls, finishing the match with four overs remaining. Sanjay Krishnamurthi took 2 wickets for West but in vain.

Player of the Match

Kunwarjeet Singh was chosen as the player of the match for his brilliant match-winning knock of 53.