The action that concluded the US Cricket League (USCL) T20 tournament featured Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) player Winston Forrester notching up yet another half century to see his side, Novo CC, triumph over the in-form Sparks CC in the grand finale played in New Jersey, USA.
Having had a good season through the efforts of their man Forrester in the three games he played – wherein he scored two centuries and one half century (80) — Novo CC won the toss under sunny conditions and elected to bowl, aiming to dismiss their opponents for a paltry score.
And indeed, the Sparks CC never got off to a good start, as they soon found themselves at 15-3 within the ‘power play’ overs. Their batsmen generally struggled to hold their own, and could form no vital partnership as they struggled for basic survival.
By the time 12.4 overs had been bowled, Sparks CC were 60-6 and on the verge of being bowled out for less than 100. However, Mikky Gumber and Krishna Vagvala contributed respective scores of 30 and 23 to propel the Sparks to 115-6 in their allotted 20 overs.
Bowling for Novo, Ashish Singla returned figures of 3-18; while Kunal Karkhanis, Paresh Deshmukh and Mahesh Kesarkar each bagged a wicket.
Needing a simple target of 116 for victory, Novo CC’s Winston Forrester and Vatsa Joshi took to the crease and smacked the ball to every part of the ground as they dealt in maximums and boundaries.
In the end, Novo overhauled the target to close their innings on 118-1, made in 11.3 overs. Forrester’s contribution was a 33-ball 56 that included 3 boundaries and 3 maximums before he was bowled. Joshi, however, remained unbeaten on 50 off 31 balls.
Forrester’s season in the USCL has thus far seen him score four centuries across all formats of the game. And of the four matches he has played in the USCL T20 tournament, he scored a total of 342 runs, inclusive of two centuries and two half- centuries.
