Smith MBA Students Win Cricket Tournament at Darden

Darden hosted an inter-MBA cricket tournament on April 3, 2010. Five teams participated in the tournament; University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business fielded three teams. The teams were split in two groups: “Pool A” having Smith and Darden Wilkinson teams playing each other in the best of three playoff format with the winner advancing to the final. “Pool B” had three teams: Darden Abbott, Kenan-Flagler and Darden Flagler playing each other once with the top team making it to the final.

In “Pool A,” Smith won the first two matches against Darden Wilkinson comfortably to reserve its place in the final. In “Pool B,” Kenan-Flagler beat Darden Abbott and Darden Flagler to meet Smith in the final. Kenan-Flagler batted first in the final after winning the toss and posted a challenging total of 103 runs in 15 overs.

The Smith team started the chase well with Jayraj and Akhil (both first-year full-time MBAs) playing handy innings. Smith lost a few quick wickets in the middle overs before Aravinder (second-year full-time MBA) and Nabeel (first-year full-time MBA) put up a solid partnership. With 12 runs to get off the last two overs, the match was evenly poised. Nabeel struck two sixes off successive deliveries to get Smith past the target. Due to his all-round performance, Nabeel was presented the Best Bowler and the Best Batsman awards. Overall, It was a great team effort and sensible leadership by Smith Captain Rajorshi Chakraborty (second-year full-time MBA) that enabled Smith team to proudly hold the winning trophy.

The day was not just about cricket, it was also about networking, establishing rapport and fostering camaraderie with fellow MBAs from Darden and Kenan-Flagler. Cricket was used as a platform to interact with other MBA communities. At the end of the day, Smith team returned back to College Park not only with a trophy, but with new friendships and lasting memories.

Nabeel Jawad, MBA Candidate 2011, Smith Media Group