Virginia Warriors and US Tigers Advance to DC T20 Finals

      The Virginia Warriors and US Tigers advanced to the FINALS of the DC T20 Cricket Tournament after a thrilling day of exciting cricket at the Mikie Gordon Memorial Park in Middleburg, Virginia. The large crowds at the MGM Park were treated to speculator cricket and nail-biting finishes. Day Two of the DC T20 Cricket Tournament was a fight to the finish as all four teams ending their preliminary rounds played on Saturday and Sunday with one win and one lose.  That meant that the DC T20 Championship Match participants had to be determined by the tournament won-loss record tie-breaking rules. The DC T20 Tournament Chairman and Vice President of CCUSA, Jeff Miller announced the final team rankings after the net run rate calculations were applied. According to Miller, the Warriors topped the table with .83, Tigers .61, Senators -.2 and Lions -.72.

      How the teams reached Monday’s Finals was as exciting as awaiting the tie-breaking results.  In game one between Washington Senators and Pak-America Lions, the Senators won the toss and elected to field. The Lions defeated by the Warriors on day one, scored 141 in their allotted 20 overs with Y. Jamseed slamming the first half century of the tournament before he was dismissed for 57, with 1 six and 8 fours. Other contributions came from A. Zar 30 and A. Hussain 15. Bowling for the Senators, former USA national representative Imran Awan took the first hat-trick of the tournament capturing 3 for 28, while K. Raman took 2 for 14 and J. Rasheed 2 for 24.  In reply, the Senators, heavily favored against the Lions, were dismissed for 136 in 19.3 overs to lose by 6 runs. Batting for the Senators, former USA national representative G. Roopnarine smashed 46 with 1 six and 3 fours, while K. Raman hit 26 and A. Siddique got 11.  Bowling for the Lions, Asad Hussain wrecked the Senators powerful batting attack claiming 5 for 17 from 4 overs. Hussain got able assistance from K. Rasheed who took 2 for 18, H. Shabaz 1 for 10, S. Amir 1 for 13 and W. Munir 1 for 25.

     In game two under sunny skies and temperatures in the 70’s, the US Tiger won the toss and elected to field against the Virginia Warriors. The Tigers in a must win situation, were quickly under pressure in the first 5 overs has the Warriors opening batsman raced to 48 without lose. The Warriors piled up 171 for 6 in the allotted 20 overs with H. Hammad slamming 38 not out with 4 mighty 6 and 2 fours, while A. Adil got 27, H. Dharmesh chipped in with 25, A. Sarvanan hit 24 and N. Nasir 17. Bowling for the Tigers, J. Patel grabbed 2 for 20 and H. Meuta 2 for 46.  In reply, the Tigers batsman had their many screaming fans jumping to the sweet sounds of bats against balls, as the Tiger defeated the Warriors by 4 wickets. The Tigers pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament scoring 172 for 6 in 17 overs. Batting for the Tigers, A. Japin slammed 41 with 5 sixes and he got valuable assistance from S. Sayed 22 with 5 fours, G. Zain 14 and J. Gul 11. Bowling for Warriors, Z. Adil grabbed 2 for 29 and former West Indies fast bowler Adam Sanford capturing 3 for 29.The stage is set for a rematch between the Warriors and the Tigers in the finals of the DC T20 Cricket Tournament on Labor Day.  Please see the schedule & results column.