Team USA defeated Canada by six wickets to take the top spot at the inaugural North American Cricket Cup held in Cayman.
During the 19-27 April T20 limited overs tournament, five teams – Cayman, USA, Canada, Bermuda and the Bahamas – competed in a group stage, followed by playoffs to determine the champion, with 13 matches played overall.
Monank Patel, USA captain, said that he was really happy with the way his team performed throughout the tournament, “and especially against Canada in the finals”. He added that they knew that it was going to be a good and interesting game against their neighbours to the north, and he credits his teammates for fighting until the end.
The final match was USA 169 for 4, and Canada 168 for 9 in reply.
He described winning the tournament as “special”, adding “We play for these kind of achievements. At the end of the day, you play to win the cup.” Overall, Patel believes that this event is “a great initiative” that will bring about positive results for each North American team.
Venu Pisike, chairman of the USA cricket board, praised his country’s performance against Canada as “amazing”. He added, “I know they lost one game, but they came back today. They played to their potential, and they showed that they deserved this win.”
With many of the cricketing nations far away geographically from the Americas, Pisike described this event as, “A dream come true for all of us, because we wanted to grow competitive cricket in the region.”
“We want to grow our own cricket, so we can play, get better and dominate the world. So, I think this a good start.”
He thanked Courtney Myles, Cayman Cricket president, the board and the officials for making this event possible. “We really appreciate Cayman Cricket for taking the lead and [putting on] this inaugural tournament.”
Myles also echoed gratitude to the board, as well as to visiting teams and their chairmen who “worked extremely hard to pull off today”.
He added, “It was a great tournament. It’s one that I will remember for the rest of my life, and today, we made history.”
As for the USA-Canada final, he said, “It was an exciting match because they came right down to the last over and this is good cricket. This is what we are accustomed to seeing and I want to congratulate both teams on their performance today.”
Gregory Taylor, Bahamas Cricket Association president, also praised the event. “The tournament was excellent, no complaints whatsoever. I’ve been waiting to see something like this now for about 20 years.”
General manager of Cricket Canada, Ingleton Liburd, noted the significance of the event. “In the Americas region, you already have tournaments in South America and Central America. North America is the only region [that] didn’t have any, so it gives us an opportunity to play more cricket against each other.”
Hector Robinson, former president of Cayman Cricket, said he hopes to see the sport continue to develop in Cayman, especially amongst the youth. “I would love to see the young players coming through, replacing some of the older ones and putting pressure on them, so by the time we get this tournament again, it’s a new team with some fresh faces.”
Myles said he is already looking forward to next year’s event, promising it “will be really exciting, and I can’t wait”.
One of his main goals for next year is to improve on spectator numbers, saying that adding lights to the pitch will help, in addition to increasing marketing efforts.
In addition, he noted the tournament is a great way to boost sports tourism in Cayman as it “brought a lot of revenue into the country”, and he would like to see that continue.
Awards post-match:
Player of the Tournament – Monank Patel (USA)
Best Batter – Monank Patel (USA)
Best Bowler – Yasir Mohammed (USA)
Best Wicket Keeper – Shreyas Movva (Canada)
