After excelling for several years in Major League Cricket, Shubham Ranjane showed he has what it takes to excel in 50-over cricket as well by nabbing Player of the Match honors in just his second ODI for USA.
Photo credit: Peter Della Penna
By Peter Della Penna (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)
In just his second match for USA, 31-year-old allrounder Shubham Ranjane showed why he has been a dependable contributor across the American domestic landscape by taking two wickets in the field before guiding USA across the line in a bumpy chase with 46 not out to seal a four-wicket win over the UAE on Tuesday afternoon at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Ranjane was named Player of the Match for his all-round display ahead of teammates Monank Patel and Milind Kumar, who each scored half-centuries in the chase.
Despite some nervy moments early in the chase – USA was 22 for 3 at one stage – the visitors benefited from some half-chances that UAE could not capitalize on in a relatively low-scoring contest. Chasing a target of 212, USA lost a wicket on the second ball of the chase when Smit Patel went too deep in his crease trying to flick across the line to opening fast bowler Junaid Siddique and was given lbw for a duck. Siddique struck again in the third over when a pitched up delivery to Andries Gous was edged low to first slip for 1 to make it 11 for 2.
UAE got a slice of luck to go their way in the eighth over when debutant left-arm spinner Haider Ali belted out an lbw appeal on an under-edged cut shot played by Sai Mukkamalla that rolled away to fine leg. Despite the slip field chasing after the ball into the leg side and replays confirming that the ball never hit the pad and came clean off Mukkamalla’s bat, the appeal for lbw was upheld to end his innings for 8 making it 22 for 3.
Monank had a close shave on 28 at the start of the 16th over against left-arm spinner Simranjeet Singh when an edge found a tight gap between the keeper and first slip to roll away for three runs. Shayan Jahangir pulled a half-tracker off the next ball over midwicket for four, but Simranjeet got his revenge on the third ball of the over as a good length ball produced extra bounce to cause Jahangir to lose control of an attempted cut which lobbed gently to point for 18 to make it 58 for 4.
UAE had a chance to make it 68 for 5 at the start of the 19th when Milind miscued a pull off debutant spinning allrounder Harshit Kaushik, but Muhammad Waseem’s one-handed effort running back from mid-on bounced in and out of his right palm, allowing Milind a life on 8. It allowed Milind to continue building a half-century partnership with Monank as the allrounder eventually top-scored with 71.
The 52-run partnership between Monank and Milind ended shortly after Monank brought up his own half-century. The USA captain poked away from his body to a length ball from Simranjeet to feather an edge behind for 50, making it 110 for 5 in the 25th over. But by the time Ranjane joined Milind in the middle, the required run rate was under 5 per over and the pair coasted for the majority of the next two hours.
One match after needing just 41 balls to reach a half-century against Nepal, Milind needed 58 balls to reach the landmark against UAE as he patiently waited for anything loose to milk ones and twos. A rare outburst came in the 42nd over when he drove debutant spinner Muhammad Shahdad through extra cover and over mid-off for back-to-back boundaries. But his innings and a 73-run partnership with Ranjane came to an end when he was beaten for pace by Siddique upon the new ball pacer’s return to the attack in the 44th to make it 183 for 6.
Ranjane remained assured and blunted Siddique’s vain effort to make any further breakthroughs. At one stage USA needed 15 off 31 balls, but UAE dragged the chase out to make the equation 11 off 14 balls before they finally cracked in the field when Harmeet Singh’s drive to the cover sweeper off of Siddique’s penultimate ball in the 48th over resulted in a terrible angle that turned an easy single into four runs. With three needed to win entering the final over, Harmeet latched onto a full toss from Shoaib Khan off the first ball of the 50th and flicked it over midwicket for the game-clinching boundary to end on 14 not out off 13 balls.
The long-time stalwart Siddique ended with 3 for 44 off 10 overs leading an inexperienced attack. Simranjeet claimed 2 for 48 off his 10 overs while Haider returned an impressive 1 for 28 off his 10 overs on debut to end as UAE’s only other wicket-taker on the day.
At the start of the day, USA won the toss and chose to field first playing an unchanged XI from their win over Nepal whereas UAE sent out five players to make their international debut. However, it was the veterans who struggled with the bat for UAE, beginning with the opening pair of Alishan Sharafu and Aryansh Sharma, who lasted a combined nine balls before returning to the dugout. Sharafu edged the final ball of the opening over from Saurabh Netravalkar to Milind at second slip for 1. Sharma fell in identical fashion three balls later to Rushil Ugarkar as Milind claimed his second catch to make it 4 for 2.
UAE fought back with a half-century stand behind Shahdad and captain Rahul Sharma before Ranjane entered the fray to break the partnership. After threatening for several overs, Ranjane’s persistence paid off when he had Chopra lbw for 36 after missing a flick with the keeper up the stumps to tie him back in the crease making it 70 for 3 in the 21st. After an aggressive counter-attack, Shoaib Khan ran himself out for 27 off 28 balls when a tip and run single into midwicket was denied by Ugarkar, who charged in and fired at the non-striker’s stumps from eight yards away to connect with Shoaib two feet short of making his ground to leave UAE at 106 for 4 in the 29th. Shahdad then fell two overs later for 34, cutting Jessy Singh to Mukkamalla at backward point where a chest high catch was held to make it 108 for 5.
Ex-captain Waseem looked like he was calmly building toward a death overs launch, but he couldn’t last long enough to threaten for a late surge as Ranjane induced a tame slap to Monank at extra cover for 21 to make it 150 for 6 in the 40th. Netravalkar then returned to strike twice in a death overs spell, first getting Haider Ali with a soft chip to Ugarkar at mid-off for 10 to make it 174 for 7.
One ball after Kaushik flicked Jessy through fine leg to bring up a half-century on debut, Jessy bowled him heaving across the line for 53 to make it 195 for 8. Netravalkar took his third to start the 49th when Siddique lofted a catch to Jahangir charging in from the cover sweeper rope for 1 to make it 198 for 9. The last pair of Simranjeet and Mohammad Rohid added 13 off the final 11 balls to ensure UAE batted out their overs for a final score of 211 for 9.
Netravalkar ended with 3 for 28 off his 10 overs to lead USA in the field. Ugarkar claimed 1 for 23 off five overs and did not bowl at the death. Jessy ended with 2 for 51 off 10 overs while Ranjane returned 2 for 44 off 10. After taking a career-best six wickets in USA’s win over Nepal, Harmeet ended with 0 for 26 off eight overs. Milind was USA’s only other bowler used against UAE, finishing with 0 for 31 off seven overs.
USA has three days off before they return to action on Saturday November 1 against Nepal at ICC Academy in Dubai.
