The Wooster Cricket Club defeated Carnegie Mellon University in a Twenty20 cricket match this past Sunday, their final match of the 2008-2009 season. The win marks the first time the current team has had a victory in the Twenty20 format, a shortened version of the game that typically lasts around three hours instead of several days.
The game remained close throughout. Carnegie Mellon batted first, gaining an advantage during the first part of the game.
The Wooster spinners, however, fought back with a gain of six wickets ó four of which were picked up by Maas Khan í11. ìCMU ultimately managed a total of 120 runs in 20 overs, which is an average score at best,” said club co-captain Anoop Parik í09.
The Wooster team struggled midgame, when the middle order faltered, but the win was clinched by what Parik called ìa quickfire knock by Aditya Roy [í11] and a responsible and match-winning performance by captain Omer Ijaz [í10].”
The win breaks a streak of close losses for the Wooster team, which Parik attributes to bolstered energy from its younger members. ìItís not that there has been a huge change in the players who were playing this time but weíve been losing by only tiny margins for the last several years,” he said.
ìThe team has been improving consistently and the newer players have brought a renewed energy into the team.”
The game was attended by Wooster President Grant Cornwell and his wife Peg, who, according to Parik, expressed support and enthusiasm for the teamís continued survival as a Wooster club sport. ìThe president was very encouraging towards us having more matches all year round and said that we should definitely get a team uniform ready soon,” said Parik.
ìHe wants the team to go on tour to Florida next year to participate in a tournament involving teams from around the country,” said Parik.
Space for all club sports has been tight this year ó a challenge faced by the Wooster Ultimate team as well as the cricket club. Parik said that Cornwell was optimistic about increased practice space for these sports in the future. ì[The president] anticipates that we will be able to utilize the new sporting facilities that will be available to the College next year,” said Parik.