SCYCA organized a three-match U-10 series against California Cricket Academy (CCA) during the Thanksgiving holidays with an objective to provide match exposure, experience and excitement to the youngest players of the academy who usually play with older players in U13 / U 14 age groups. This was a great platform for the players to perform and improve in their age group.
Match # 1
CCA 93 runs all out. (Raj 10, Nikhil 10, Rayaan 4-14, Pranv 2-8, Harika 2-12) beat SCYCA 85 all out (Kanishk 27, Sevitha 15, Kritin 2-5, Sheesh 2-9)
CCA won the toss and elected to bat on a beautiful day for cricket. SCYCA bowled tight in good line and length not allowing CCA batsmen to free their hands. At the end of 16th over CCA was only 48 runs for 9 wickets. But they manage to recover and put a defendable score 93 on the board.
SCYCA stared well with opener Kanishk scoring 27 runs, but the top order could not contribute to useful partnerships resulting 44 runs for 5 wickets at the 11th over. Sevitha (15 runs) and Harika batted sensibly and tried to steady the ship, bring up the score to 76 before Sevitha was trapped LBW by Shreesh. At the end of the 29th over, SCYCA reached to 85, 9 runs short of the target.
Player of the match: Nikhil Krishnaswamy
Match # 2
SCYCA 126 for 6 wickets (Sevith 25, Rayaan 23, Pranav 20, Asteya 2-18) beat CCA 86 all out (Ashwin 10, Kanishk 3-7, Vardaan 2-15)
CCA won the toss again and elected to bowl. CCA struck early, removing in-form Kanisk for a duck. But the SCYCA top order batted sensibly with good partnerships, posting a challenging target of 126 runs on the board.
CCA openers resisted the SCYCA bowling attack, stealing runs when possible. The middle order collapsed, however, and wickets fell in regular intervals. CCA managed to score 86 runs all out at the end of 23 overs.
Player of the match: Vardaan Sinha
Match # 3
SCYCA 114 for 9 wickets (Rayaan 39, Kanisk 20, Raj 2-1) beat CCA 93 for 9 wickets (Kritin19, Ashwin 19, Rayaan 2-11)
SCYCA won the toss and elected to bat on the deciding day of the three match series. The top order started strong and dominated the initial overs, scoring 37 runs for the first wicket in 11 overs, and scoring 94 runs for 4 at the end of the 18th over. CCA bowlers came back strong and restricted SCYCA to 114 runs, 10-15 runs below the par score for this field.
SCYCA removed both openers cheaply. Kritin and Ashwin fought hard but failed in the 12th over leaving CCA at 67 for 4 wickets. SCYCA bowlers were not giving any easy runs backed by good fielding. CCA lost the middle overs in regular intervals and ended the innings scoring 93 runs, 21 short.
Player of the match: Rayaan Bhagani
It was a great experience for all youth players of the both academies from Northern and Southern California. All players had fun, played with enthusiasm and good sportsmanship.