USA takes ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division title

USA's Under-15 squad claimed first place on Saturday at the 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament held at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Canada. USA started off the tournament with back-to-back wins against Bermuda and Canada and eventually won the tournament on a net run-rate tiebreaker after all three teams finished 2-2 in the double round-robin format event.

"It feels great. It's amazing," USA U-15 captain Dave Parikh said. "This is just the second time I've been captain of a team and we came through. We were the underdogs in this tournament and coming up through the top is great."

Parikh was named Tournament MVP after leading his side with seven wickets while giving away a tournament low 2.63 runs per over. He was the team second-highest scorer with 108 runs, including 67 not out in a victory over Canada, one of four half-centuries scored by USA. He was one of six players on the team who also represented the North West U-15 squad at the 2011 USACA U-15 National Tournament, where the North West took their fourth straight U-15 national championship after a dramatic five-run win against New York in the final, something that Parikh feels helped prepare players for success in Winnipeg.

"The most important thing I learned from that match was to have faith in your players and to never give up," Parikh said. "I honestly thought that match was finished, that New York would have won the match, but we came through."

Vibhav Altekar, who scored a double-hundred for North West in the national tournament last month, led USA with 140 runs from four innings with one half-century to finish second overall behind Canada's Abrash Khan. Neil Tagare, another player selected from the North West region, turned in the highest individual score for any player at the event with 79 against Bermuda. Another noteworthy performer for USA was Michigan's Gordon Makin, who made a superb 65 in a loss to Bermuda.

Khan and Gayan Ferdinands stood out as ones to watch in the future for Canada with Ferdinands taking a tournament-high 12 wickets. Bermuda's Delray Rawlins also showed excellent all-rounds skills at the top of the batting order along with his left-arm orthodox spin.

At the same U-15 tournament in 2009, Steven Taylor and Nitish Kumar captained the USA and Canada squads respectively. Both players have gone on to excel at the U-19 level and have also played for their country's senior teams. Parikh says he's gained confidence from being part of a winning squad for USA and hopes he might be able to progress in the same way.

"After coming off as the underdogs and winning this, I feel like I have a strong future in cricket," Parikh said. "I think that I should really put some effort in for the Under-19s, try out, play my hardest and really see what I can do for that team."