In probably its most impressive starting performance ever in an ICC Trophy tournament, a confident USA team took heavily favoured Ireland to the cleaners with a superb bowling and fielding performance, and then scored the needed runs with the loss of only six wickets-- with a dozen overs to spare.

The Irish, batting first, had made a respectable start to their innings, and indeed passed the 100-run mark with the loss of only three wickets in their first 25 overs. But Nasir Islam, brought in at the last minute to replace injured opening bowler Alvin Howard, managed to take out the top of the Irish order with some accurate bowling. This was all the incentive USA seemed to need, and Donovan Blake, Javid Nasir and Rashid Zia were able to dispose of the rest of the Irish batting for 209 runs in 49.2 overs, helped along by two stumpings by Mark Johnson. Only E.C. Joyce, with 80 runs, was able to offer any real resistance to the US attack-- he was eighth out, simply running out of partners as the Irish innings crumbled.

Perhaps sensing blood, the USA openers Rohan Alexander and David Wallace started the innings in fine style, scoring at better than 7 runs an over. Just as they looked like running away with the game, Wallace was run out on an unfortunate miscue, but Mark Johnson (57) continued the blistering pace, scoring the first US half-century of the tournament off only 38 balls. Johnson's departure on a rash stroke brought US captain Richard Staples and former West Indies Test cricketer S.F. Bachhus, the two most experienced stroke-makers on the US team, together. Staples and Bacchus continued at a mellower but still torrid pace of over 5 runs an over, and by the time Bachhus was bowled because of a momentary lapse of concentration after the drinks break, the US victory had been all but sealed. When Rashid Zia, the incoming batsman, smashed two fours off Ireland's M. W Patterson in the 38th over of the US innings, the match was over-- a great victory for the United States.

Ireland may have been suffering from nerves after their unexpected defeat to Uganda in the warm-ups, and their batting had been rather tentative and uncertain so far. (Ireland did make up ground the following day with an impressive victory over Hong Kong, but that's another story). But there was no taking away from the US performance-- it was stellar throughout; marred by impatience at times, yet aided by a few pieces of good fortune. Syed Abid Ali's first foray as a coach in international cricket was an auspicious one, and time would show if his leadership could sustain the form displayed by his charges in their inaugural ICC Trophy performance.

If USA had thought they could rest on their laurels, though, they were in for a nasty surprise the following morning. Playing a team that many had considered to be the underdogs of the division, the USA managed to lose in the final overs of their match against Papua New Guinea, as a great chance for victory was frittered away.

In previous ICC TROPHY tourneys, the Papuans had impressed by their effervescence of style and demeanor, a tribute to the spirit of cricket in far-away corners of the world. This was their opportunity to show they possessed cricketing content as well as style, and they made the most of it.

Held in check in their opening overs, the Papuans scored fast against the unexpectedly flaccid attack of the USA, and managed a total of 216 for 9, doubling their score in their last 18 overs for the loss of only 3 more wickets. Papua's skipper Maha(42), #8 Dikana (28) and #10 Raka (16*) all cleared the fences with towering sixes. The extent to which the USA bowling had deteriorated can be seen by the fact that the 38 Extras USA conceded to Papua constituted the second highest scorer in the Papua innings--and of these extras, 30 were wides!

Even so, 217 should not have presented an unsurmountable target for the USA, and in fact they reached 150 for the loss of only three wickets, with D. Wallace scoring a fine if not entirely flawless 62. With 67 runs to win, seven wickets in hand and 15 overs to go, victory must have seemed well within USA's grasp. But Staple and Bachhus, the mainstays of US batting, both departed at 152 after failing to move the score along; Rashid Zia, the previous day's match winner, went at 183 with only five overs left to play--and the tail-enders dissipated their energies in running themselves out as they fell 8 runs short of the mark.

The USA had squandered a great opportunity for a decisive victory--and make no mistake, it was the USA that lost, rather than the plucky Papuans who won. Bermuda, in defeating Papua New Guinea by nine wickets on July 1, did the USA a favor by pushing the Papuans down in the division rankings, and leaving the USA in precarious charge of its own future.

The USA's next two matches, against Denmark and Hong Kong revealed the extremes to which the USA can go-- on the one hand, sinking to such abysmal depths that many US cricketers had decided to stop following their team rather than subject themselves to such an atrocious tamasha; and on the other, by giving jaded observers a glimpse of what the USA can do when it is playing to potential.

The match against Denmark began well enough for the USA. A workmanlike effort on the field and by the bowlers restricted the group-leading Danes to a modest toal-- the first three wickets went down for only 19, and even a 43-run essay by faux Viking Aftab Ahmed could only take the total to 76 for 5 wickets in 25 overs.

From here onwards, things went downhill for the USA. The second half of Denmark's innings added 105 runs for the loss of only two more wickets--proof of Danish resolve, as much as a weakening US attack. Even so, 181 was a modest score, well within the USA's abilities to match. After an uncertain start, USA were 60 for 3 wickets with Bacchus and Staple at the wicket when disaster struck. Bachhus holed out with 24 runs, and five USA wickets fell at 70, including a hat trick-- the first of the Tournament-- by Vestergaard. Ten more runs and it was all over. The USA was all out for 80, its lowest score in the tournament, with no explanation--and even less excuse-- for the pathetic show.

After the debacle against Denmark, little was expected of the USA in its next match against Hong Kong. And this was precisely when the USA showed, belatedly, what it was capable of at its best.

The USA openers, Rohan Alexander and David Wallace, set a blistering pace and scored 153 at better than 5 runs an over--the best and fastest opening partnership for the USA at the tournament. Wallace left after scoring 68, and the brittleness of the US batting again showed itself as three more wickets fell for only 20 more runs. However, Rohan Alexander carried his bat through the innings for an unbeaten 110, the best US batting performance of the tournament, and the USA had scored 254 for 8. This was altogether too much for Hong Kong to handle, although they made an energetic effort to do so-- good bowling performance by Javed Nasir (4/46) and Denovan Blake (2/40) restricted Hong Kong to 205 for 8, leaving USA the clear victors.

As it happened, Hong Kong proved it was a better team than many in the ICC tournament, by handily defeating Papua New Guinea, the previous winners over the USA, on the following day. This left the USA with a good chance of making the Super League. If it succeeded in defeating Bermuda in its final First Round match on July 5.

This the United States proceeded to do, with a few miscues, yet plenty of panache. It was not an elegant victory but it was a win...and that was what counted.

Bermuda has been the USA's nemesis in the past, the last painful encounter having been at the Americas' Cup a few months earlier. Those ghosts had to be exorcised if the USA was to win-- but one thing in USA's favour was that this was an altogether different squad, with only a handful of players carrying any memories of past drubbings.

The USA won the toss and batted first. USA's top-order trio of youngsters, D. Wallace (16), Rohan Alexander (26) and Mark Johnson (16) added a useful sixty-odd runs between them, but when Staple was bowled for 5 and Bacchus was stumped for a disappointing 28, USA's score read 139/5 and there were no recognized batsmen left in the USA batting order. Fortunately, USA's tail wagged a little, and with Hoillet top-scoring with an energetic 43, backed up by Springer (13) who discovered his batting talent, the USA was able to post a score of 200-- not the easiest of targets for Bermuda, but well within its capabilities.

The USA, however, was able to keep Bermuda's scoring rate down to 3 runs an over for the first half of its allowed 50 overs, with accurate bowling and fielding. Bermuda's captain C. M. Marshall, easily the best batsman on their side, nearly turned the game around with a sparkling 62 runs in 65 balls, which included six 6's and three 4's. Fortunately for the USA, Marshall was caught on the boundary to a well-flighted delivery while attempting yet another six, and the heart went out of Bermuda's batting. They were all out for the surprisingly modest score of 143, with Javid Nasir taking 5 wickets for 23 runs in only 6 overs for the USA.

So, this left the USA with three victories and two defeats in the First Round of the ICC Trophy, and second place in the group, behind Denmark. Ireland, with an identical 3-2 margin after handily defeating Papua New Guinea took third place because one of its two defeats had come at the hands of the USA.

So, from a point in the tournament where all looked bleak for the Stars and Stripes, the USA started Super League play with four bonus points in hand from its victories over Ireland and Bermuda (which remained as proxy points in US hands as Namibia defeated Bermuda to take over its spot in the Super League) . This was the same as Denmark, and ahead of all others in their group; in fact, only Scotland and the Netherlands in the entire Super League of eight teams started with more bonus points. In fact the USA had to win only two of its four matches in the Super League to assure itself a chance to play for a place in the World Cup-- a great chance, possibly the best the USA had ever in the ICC Trophy.

And then the USA proceeded to do what it has done so often in the past-- shoot itself in the foot, not once but repeatedly, and blow all the opportunities it had created for itself in the earlier stages of the Tournament.

The USA's first Super League match against Scotland, at the time one of the favourites of the Tournament, saw the USA restricted to 159 runs, inspite of contributions by youngsters Rohan Alexander (41) and Mark Johnson (30), and skipper Staple (37). Donovan Blake remained not out at 10, suggesting that he could have been more useful higher in the batting order. The rest of the USA batting simply wilted under the precise and varied Scottish attack, one of the most methodical in the Tournament. This left the US bowlers with far less of a cushion than they needed, and Scotland made the needed runs for the loss of only five wickets, with wicket-keeper Smith (64*) and captain Salmon (37) leading the charge. The defeat was expected, if disappointing--far more ominous was the failure of USA'a batting, a portent of things to come.

Next up for the USA was the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a mercurial team which had discovered its second wind after having been nearly knocked out of the Super League. The UAE's re-energised bowling exposed all the weaknesses of USA's batting for everyone to see. Ubder UAE'a hostile pace attack, USA's youth contingent of Alexander, Johnson and Wallace were able to contribute barely 25-odd runs to the total; Staple was out at 6, Bacchus, USA's star, made 47, and Hoillet was run out at 30. Once again, Blake shored up the rear with an unbeaten 7 in 10 overs. USA's 153 for 8 wickets was too tempting a target for UAE's batsmen. It was matched by UAE in only 39 overs for the loss of only three wickets, with an unbeaten fourth-wicket partnership of 96 runs between Asim Saeed (52*) and Ahmed Nadeem (47*).

If the defeat against Scotland had been expected, the loss against UAE (which had barely made it to the Super League) was not...and the USA was now in big trouble.

USA's third super-league match against Canada was, for all practical purposes, a last-chance match for both the North American teams. It was clear that whoever lost the match would be out of contention for a place in the World Cup--and conversely, the winner would have secured at least a foothold by qualifying for the play-offs. The contest was also a familiar one to both teams-- with Canada having had the better of the USA year after year for the last ten years, a pattern that the USA needed to reverse.

One would have expected both teams to take the match seriously. In the event, Canada did-- and the USA did not. This made all the difference.

The Canadians, batting first, were buoyed by an enthusiastic band of local supporters. They scored steadily and with authority, racking up 227 runs for the loss of five wickets in 44 overs before a last-minute bowling spell by Nasir Islam(5/54) saw them all out at 265.

With Johson out of the game because of injury, the USA changed its batting order to put its veterans up front-- and then proceeded to throw its wickets away for 144 with only Bacchus and Staple managing any kind of aggression against accurate Canadian bowling and fielding, and even these veterans fell to careless strokes. The rest of the US batting looked like a bad joke, with leg-befores and run-outs being awarded on naive batting errors. It was as if the USA were determined to lose, and Canada was only too happy to oblige. This was one of the most pathetic batting performances by the USA in the entire tournament, and the fact that it happened in such a crucial match speaks volumes about the USA team's attitude.

The USA's last hurrah was to be against League leader (and eventual ICC Trophy winner) Holland, and only cemented USA's position as a loser in the ICC Super League. Thanks to some spirited bowling by Californians Aijaz Ali (3/23) and Joy Zinto (3/32), perhaps their best in the Super League, Holland was restricted to the comparatively modest total of 203 for 8 wickets, with very few stand-out batting performances. USA's top order again failed to deliver, and with captain Staples absent from the line-up, the USA lost 5 wickets for 73 before some energetic batting by the lower-middle US batting order Aijaz Ali (26), Rashid Zia (24) and Donovan Blake (28) added nearly 100 runs to the US total, and brought it to some level of respectability. But this proved not to be enough, and Holland had a 33-run victory on its hands-- a comparatively close match, but still a victory for the unbeaten Dutch.