CU nudges Cardinals and Milwaukee

Chicago United vs Cardinals United (BPL 30/30)
By Umair Ghani

Chicago United hosted the game at Bolingbrook cricket ground. It was a rainy day and the game got a little delayed due to the ground conditions. Chicago United won the toss and elected to bat with Yaseen and Senthil to open the innings. Yaseen started off with two 6 sixes in the first over, but unfortunately got out on a really good in-swinging delivery in the third over. CU lost another quick wicket and was 34/2 in 5 overs. Sharad and Senthil then had a 102 runs partnership with Senthil scoring 50 in 46 balls and Sharad 101 in 53 balls. CU ended the innings with another 50 odd runs partnership between Sunny (46 in 29 balls) and Sami’s (19 in 8 balls) power hitting, setting a target of 253 in 25 overs. 5 overs were deducted from Cardinals, due to bowling time overage. Cardinals United started off slow and were never able to catch up to the required run-rate. Cardinal United kept loosing wickets in intervals with Mandar and Sunny picking up crucial wickets. Cardinals ended the innings with just scoring 172/5 in 25 overs. CU won the game by 81 runs.

Milwaukee Cricket Club vs Chicago United (MwCC 40/40)
By Shahmeer Khaliqdina

With some weather uncertainties, Chicago United (CU) visited Milwaukee Cricket Club on Sunday 5/17 and the game began as expected at 10 AM. CU elected to bat first. Both left hand openers, Shahmeer and Yaseen gave CU a great start with 70/0 in 10 overs. The first wicket fell in the 11th over. CU was 119/2 at 20 over break. CU lost 2 quick wickets immediately after the break, but Sharad and Sami stabilized the innings once again. Sharad and Sami then followed up by hitting some huge ‘maximums’ all over the ground. Stylish batting by Sharad and powerful batting by captain Sami was a delight to watch. CU ended the innings with 276 all out in 38 overs. Sharad (83 in 41 balls), Yaseen (63) and captain Sami’s quick firing with massive 6’s supported by other batsmen were the highlights of CU’s innings. MCC’s Sandy, picked up a ‘fiver’ with the ball. Milwaukee Cricket Club came into bat and CU took two quick wickets via direct run outs by Sami and Yaseen. The third wicket fell just before the 20 over break which helped put CU on top with the D/L as the rain was in the forecast. At this point, the stage was set for CU bowlers to penetrate through Milwaukee lineup. The rain hit in the 27th/28th over, with Milwaukee at about 150/6. Some brilliant catches by Shahmeer and Safder,in addition to a stumping by Sanjay were commendable. Abhijit and Senthil roughed it with their fielding. Chicago United won the game comfortably by D/L method as hard rain caused the end of the game. Great game overall and a good win for Chicago United.

Player of the week: Sharad Lumba – 101 in 53 balls plus 83 in 41 balls and 4 wickets.