Texas romp to Interstate title

Texas 140 for 3 (21.1 overs, Niraj Shah 59*, Sushil Nadkarni 30, Amir Nanjee 22*, Waqas Qadar 2-11) beat Virginia 138 (48.5 overs, Vicky Chaunaraj 40, Ameeq Khan 29, Arjun Rajagopalan 4-25, Amir Nanjee 2-12, Sushil Nadkarni 2-17) by seven wickets

Niraj Shah, the Texas captain, with the trophy © MLC

Don't mess with Texas! This proved to be true as Virginia tried their best against the mighty Texans but still came up second best. After winning the toss, VA skipper Irfan Hasan said that he elected to bat first, hoping to get a big total and in the process tire out the Texas team. But apart from a valiant 40 by Vicky Chaunaraj and 29 from Ameeq Khan, yesterday's centurion for Virginia, VA ended their innings with a 138 in 48.5 overs.

Texas began their innings with the usual pair - Sushil Nadkarni on strike and Owen Brown at the other end. VA struck three early blows - Brown was judged LBW off Hasan Waqas. The biggest cheer for VA was the prize wicket of Nadkarni, very well caught by Hashim Khan on the long-off boundary. Shane Ford fell LBW soon after for a duck. But that was all . Texas determined to win the championship, cruised to a seven-wicket victory. Skipper Niraj Shah remained 59 not out and Amir Nanjee supported him with an unbeaten 22.

Sushil Nadkarni was the MVP or, in cricketing terms, the Man of the Series. In the tournament he scored a total of 415 runs in three innings at an average of 207.5. While making 171 in the first game against Washington State, he carried his bat through the innings. He scored a double century against Florida making 214, bowled on the second-to-last ball of the innings.

Washington 314 for 9 (50 overs, Srikanth Sundaragopalan 118, Phani Chitneni 61, Sanjay Patel 3-30, Ani Khandekar 2-36, Bilal Aslam 2-53) beat North Carolina 176 (36.1 overs, Aqeel Sabri 64, Nasir Mohammed 44, Bardan Chalise 4-31, Shehryar Butt 3-30) by 138 runs

In the third-place game, Washington amassed 314 for 9 to defeat North Carolina by 138 runs. Srikanth Sundaragopalan scored a magnificent century. His 118 was supported by Phani Chitneni, who made 61. North Carolina responded with a great knock of 64 in 29 balls by Aqeel Sabri. Sabri's 64 included nine sixes. Opening batsman Nasir Mohammad scored an impressive 44. But Washington bundled up the rest of the NC batting in 36.1 overs.

Read in App

Elevate your reading experience on ESPNcricinfo App.

Download App Now