Defensive Stroke - Photo by DAVIDiPhoto

The records would reflect, venue: Broward County Regional Park, City of Lauderhill, Broward County, USA.

It was a fun-filled cricket weekend for patrons who flocked to the park to bask in the moment. And although it was not the most exciting cricket games, the mood of the crowd was fanatical, as the mere fact that history was unfolding seemed to satiate cricket enthusiasts who waited patiently for this moment.

Kudos to the USA Cricket Association, the New Zealand Cricket Association, Broward County and the City of Lauderhill for delivering a first class presentation on a historic event.

As for the cricket, it was two low scoring games dominated by bowlers and highlighted by excellent ground fielding and superb catching.

Game 1

In the first encounter, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat on a slow pitch which made shot-making difficult, as the ball was not coming on to the batsmen. They would lose the early wicket of aggressive opener Nathan McCollum (18 from 10 balls) in the fourth over with the score on 25, as he was brilliantly caught at mid off by Mathews diving forward low down off the bowling Nuwan Kulasekara.

That would set the tone as Aaron Redmond (8), Rob Nichol (10) and Scott Styris (10), soon followed Mccullum back to the pavilion, leaving New Zealand at the end of the 13th over at 77 for 5.

In the 14th over the gritty Taylor, who top scored with 27, in trying to increase the scoring rate, ran out going for a second that wasn’t there. It was then left to captain Daniel Vettori 21 not out to take the tally to a modest 120 for 7 at the end of their allotted 20 overs.

The pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers was Ajantha Mendis 2 for 18 off four overs.

However, despite the seemingly attainable score the New Zealand bowlers led by man of the match Scott Styris 3 for 10 kept Sri Lanka in check. Their hopes of victory were soon dashed as opener Prasanna Jayawardene was caught behind on the second ball of the first over for no score. That would spell disaster as they never recovered and only Captain Kumar Sangakkara (17) and Mathews (27) reached double figures as they were eventually bowled out for 92.

Game 2

New Zealand captain Vettori once again won the toss and elected to bat – a decision they would rue. Improving on their previous day performance, the Sri Lankan made life difficult for the Black Caps by maintaining good line and length and only Captain Vettori (27) and Mccullum (36) offered any resistance as they plunged to 81 all out in 17.3 overs. The chief destroyers were man of the match Kulasekara 3 for 4 and Lasith Malinga 3 for 12.

Tillakaratne Dilshan 33 not out, Thissara Perera 24 and Jayawardene 17 would guide Sri Lanka home to an easy victory with 2 overs and 3 balls to spare to level the series.

The man of the series went to New Zealand Captain Vettori for his 48 runs scored in two games along with bowling figures 1 for 11 in game one.

Jamaica vs USA

Pagon agressive - Photo by DAVIDiPhoto

In the other series played, a strong Jamaican team swept the USA in both their T/20 games and One Day International. The more experienced Jamaican team outplayed their USA counterpart. USA players, to their credit, showed great commitment and with more international exposure, it’s only a matter of time before they will be an international force.

Marlon Samuels, making his return to first class cricket, and Danza Hyatt were the top players for the Jamaicans.

Next

South Florida cricket fans can now turn their attention MAQ T/20 Lauderhill INT. Night Cricket Tournament on June 5, 2010 at Lauderhill Sports Park where Lauderhill will take on team USA at 7.00 pm.