The first ever ZEE International Double Wicket Cricket Championshipwas held at Lincoln Park West, in Jersey City, New Jersey, from July13 to 15
Mohandas Menon24-Jul-2001The first ever ZEE International Double Wicket Cricket Championshipwas held at Lincoln Park West, in Jersey City, New Jersey, from July13 to 15. Sixteen players from six countries – India, Pakistan, SriLanka, Bangladesh, England and the West Indies participated in thethree-day tournament.India and Pakistan fielded two teams – India Reds (Robin Singh andVinod Kambli) and Indian Blues (Sunil Joshi and Hrishikesh Kanitkar)and Pakistan Blues (Wasim Akram and Shahid Afridi) and Pakistan Greens(Saeed Anwar and Azhar Mahmood). Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda deSilva (Sri Lanka); Aminul Islam and Akram Khan (Bangladesh); JimmyAdams and Phil Simmons (West Indies) and Chris Lewis and David Capel(England) were the other participants.Pakistan’s Rashid Latif and a local player kept wickets during thetournament. Former West Indian left-handed batsman Larry Gomes was thetournament referee, who also acted as the TV umpire. India’s SK Bansaland Pakistan’s Mian Muhammad Aslam officiated as umpires. Localplayers, led by Derek Kallicharran, younger brother of former WestIndian captain and batsman Alvin, fielded for the various teams duringthe tournament.The competition was played at a baseball park. A synthetic wicket,which was imported from South Africa, was laid out for the event.Since the wicket had unpredictable bounce and pace, the bowlers usedshorter run-ups and bowled slow stuff. All matches were televised liveon Zee UK, Zee Africa and Zee USA. Pakistan TV also took a live feed.Although the crowd was disappointing on the first day, the last twodays saw a fairly decent flag-waving crowd, mostly from the subcontinent.Pakistan Blues, represented by Wasim Akram and Shahid Afridi, won thecompetition defeating the Bangladeshi pair of Akram Khan and AminulIslam in the final. India Blues and the West Indies were losing semifinalists. The winners took US$ 20,000, while the runners-up won halfthat amount. Afridi won US$ 1000 for hitting the maximum sixes, whileDerek Kalllicharran was adjudged the best fielder with maximumcatches. The mayor of Jersey City gave away the prizes.Brief scores:July 13: Match No 1 (Group A): Pakistan Blues 82-2 in 8 overs beatIndia Reds 65-2 in 8 overs. Match No 2 (Group A): England 59-5 in 8overs lost to West Indies 70-3 in 8 overs. Match No 3 (Group B):Pakistan Greens 50-5 in 8 overs lost to Sri Lanka 61-2 in 8 overs.Match No 4 (Group B): India Blues 44-3 in 8 overs lost to Bangladesh47-1 in 8 overs. Match No 5 (Group A): Pakistan Blues 69-5 in 8 oversbeat West Indies 34-4 in 8 overs.July 14: Match No 6 (Group A): West Indies 69-1 in 8 overs beat IndiaReds 32-9 in 8 overs. Match No 7 (Group A): England 41-7 in 8 oversbeat India Reds 4-0 in 1.5 overs (India Reds conceded the match whenKambli was injured). Match No 8 (Group B): Pakistan Greens 41-5 in 8overs lost to India Blues 44-2 in 8 overs Match No 9 (Group A):Pakistan Blues 88-3 in 8 overs beat England 75-2 in 8 overs Match No10 (Group B): Sri Lanka 5-9 in 8 overs lost to Bangladesh 21-3 in 8oversJuly 15: Match No 11 (Group B): India Blues 54-2 in 8 overs beat SriLanka 27-8 in 8 overs. Match No 12 (Group B): Bangladesh 68-2 in 8overs beat Pakistan Greens 43-7 in 8 overs.
Points table:Group A P W L Pts Group B P W L PtsPakistan Blues 3 3 0 6 Bangladesh 3 3 0 6India Blues 3 2 1 4 England 3 1 2 2India Reds 3 0 3 0 Pak Greens 3 0 3 0West Indies 3 2 1 4 Sri Lanka 3 1 2 2
Semi-finals: Bangladesh 58-5 in 8 overs: Akram Khan (60 runs with 2outs) & Aminul Islam (18 – 3) beat West Indies 55-3 in 8 overs: (PhilSimmons 27 – 1) & Jimmy Adams (36-2) Pakistan Blues 118-4 in 8 overs:Shahid Afridi (63 – 3) & Wasim Akram (69 – 1) beat India Blues 77-4 in8 overs: Hrishikesh Kanitkar (33-2) & Maninder Singh (49-2) (ManinderSingh replaced the injured Sunil JoshiFinal: Pakistan Blues 81-9 in 8 overs: Shahid Afridi (79 runs, with 7outs) & Wasim Akram (43 – 2) beat Bangladesh 58-2 in 8 overs: AkramKhan (40 – 1) & Aminul Islam (20-1)