ARKANSAS/USA – Titans cricket club became the most successful club in the short history of the MCL as they won their third title by whipping Mavericks in the finals of the Arkansas tournament at Roger’s Park on Sunday.
Previously Titans Cricket Club won two titles with both coming in Tampa in 2021 and 2022. Last year they lost the finals of the Arkansas tournament but this time around they were determined to take the title at home.
After losing their first game to Udaan on a super over, Titans rebounded beautifully to win their next two preliminary round games to reach the finals against the Mavericks.
They needed a big effort and got it. Batting first in good conditions Titans scored an emphatic 222/5 off their 20 overs, which was the highest score of the tournament. Leading the way with the bat was Mahidhar Mullapudi who clouted a rapid 65 off 37 balls with two sixes and five fours.
Also among the runs were Sankalp Dekate with 33 off 18 balls including six fours, team owner Chitranjan Singh Rathod got 29 off 28 balls. Towards the end Trevon Griffith made 28 not out off 11 balls and Sam Das 28 not out off 10 balls. The duo added an unbroken 38 from the final two overs.
Facing such a mountainous task was always going to be difficult for Mavericks but they were expected to put up a better showing than their sorry 64 out all – losing the match by a whopping 158 runs, the highest margin of defeat in the history of the MCL. At one stage they slipped to 31/7 so their final score of 64 represented a recovery of some sort. Only one batsman got into double figures Muhammad Sohaib Qamar got 15.
Mavericks were wrecked by Rakesh Nalamuchu who took 4/10. Das ended a very good tournament by claiming 2/15 and Salmin Padinjar Kara took 2/7.
Scorecard: https://cricketerbook.com/matches/scorecard/d3925a7e807e0afb707414e1
