Sushil Nadkarni scores second successive century as USA ease past Argentina by International Cricket Council

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Scorecard:	United States of America v Argentina
Player:	Nasir Javed, SJ Massiah, SS Nadkarni, GJ Savage, EA MacDermott, HD Barton

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DateLine: 29th November 2008

 

At Brian Piccolo Park, another fine innings from Hamish Barton (74 off 118 balls with 3 fours) steered a steady Argentina to a total of 200 for 9 in their allotted 50 overs. Perhaps an improvement in the batting department from day one, as this Barton found more support from Donny Forrester, with 23 from 25 balls, 3 fours, Gary Savage with 30 off 52 balls and 2 fours, and Lucas Paterlini, 20, from 15 balls with a four and a six. For the USA, best of the bowling was Imran Awan, with 2 for 16 in 7 overs, and Nazir Javed, 2 for 44 in 9 overs.

 

All thoughts of Argentina’s fine bowling and fielding performance against Canada were quickly obliterated by Sushil Nadkarni, who produced another superlative batting performance, carrying on from where he had left off after yesterdays innings of 197, to record a second successive century. Nadkarni finished undefeated on a brilliant 109, off 106 balls, with 12 fours and 3 sixes.

 

USA skipper Steve Massiah, with 43 in 65 balls including 2 fours, and Carl Wright with 24 off 32 fours and 3 fours, added the required support to Nadkarni, and the USA reached their target and 203 for 3 with 12 overs still remaining. While Nadkarni and the USA will hope he will make it three centuries in a row in tomorrow’s big game against Bermuda, Argentina will be sweating on the fitness of Barton for their crunch match against the Cayman Islands after picking up an ankle injury today.

 

USA manager Imran Khan was understandably pleased with the victory against the dangerous Argentina side: “We played well against determined opposition and did the job we set out to do. While our batting, and especially Sushil (Nadkarni), is looking good, we have work to do on being more disciplined in the field, and especially not gifting the opposition with bowling extras.”

 

Argentina player-coach Hamish Barton remained upbeat despite the loss: “We’re playing well, especially considering how tough the opposition has been in the first two games. Today we knew the USA batting was very strong, and we didn’t score enough runs to be competitive and to give our bowlers a chance to bowl with a bit more freedom. If we start scoring over 220, and we maintain our standards in the field, our progress is good and I’m sure we’ll start earning some good results.”

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2008 International Cricket Council)