MARGATE/FL USA: South African Wayne Waleed Parnell was the star of the show with the bat, as the US All Stars again gave a good showing at the US Open T20 tournament.
The left hander was the topscorer in the tournament which was won by the California Bears. His exploits helped his team to reach the semi-finals, where they narrowly lost to the defending champions the Somerset Cavaliers.
US All Stars romped to the semis by easily winning their four preliminary round matches. Led admirably by the young Zishawn Qureshi, the star-studded team opened their campaign with an eight-wicket victory of UCT. The visitors batted first and scored 133 all out with Vishal Patel top scoring with 71. However that was not the highlight of the game, as that was reserved for the Windies player Samuel Badree. The leg spinner grabbed a beaver-trick enroute of best ever figures of 6/17. Parnell then took over, scoring 68 not out and together with Hamza Tariq 35no, took their team home.
In game number two, the US All Stars completely obliterated the US Flyers, winning by 133 runs. Centuries from Parnell (117) and Cheema (111) took the US All Stars to an imposing 256/6 off 20 overs.
In reply, the Flyers reached 123/8, as they found the spin of Qureshi (2/23) and Raviderpaul Singh 2/23, too hot to handle.
The next match saw another brilliant batting performance by Cheema. The right hander slapped 90 as US All Stars responding to the Flyers effort raced home at 153/2. Three wins from three matches but the US All Stars were not finished yet. Tampa made 112/7 in 20 overs with Badree taking 3/11. Facing a tricky target with the opposition bowlers keeping it tight, Parnwell with 19 not out and Malothra 36 took them home at 114/5.
It was now on to the knockout stage and US All Stars came up against Somerset Cavaliers. The Cavaliers were in early trouble but the Windies str Andre Russell smoked an unbeten century to take them to 181/6. Malothra then led a spirited US All Stars fightback but in the end they fell short by eight runs. The right hander smacked 97 off 46 balls and had he not been run out, the final result come have been different.
US ALL STARS PERFORMANCES AT US OPEN T20
Game One: UCT 133 all out (15.5)(Vishal Patel 71, Samuel Badree 6/17) vs US All Stars 137/2 (11.2) (Wayne Parnell 68no, Hamza Tariq 35no) – US All Stars won by 8 wkts.
Game Two: US All Stars 256/6 (20) (Wayne Parnell 117, Rizwan Cheema 111, Waleed Karimullah 4/37) vs US Flyers 123/8 (20) (Harpreet Singh 43, Zishawn Qureshi 2/23, Ravinderpal Singh 2/23) – US All Stars won by 133 runs.
Game Three: CT Blizzards 148/6 (20) (Kyle Phillip 48no, Pratik Dudhanie 41, Samuel Badree 2/13) vs US All Stars 153/2 (Rizwan Cheema 90) – US All Stars won by 8 wkts.
Game Four: Tampa Tigers 112/7 (20) (Mitul Patel 41, Samuel Badree 3/11) vs US All Stars 114/5 (Jaskaran Malhotra 36, Wayne Parnell 19no, Pargat Singh 21) – US All Stars won by 5 wkts.
Semis: Somerset Cavaliers 181/6 (20) (Andre Russell 108no) vs US All Stars 173/6 (20) (Jaskaran Malothra 97, Wayne Parnell 45, Rusty Theron 3/15) – Cavaliers won by 8 runs.
