USA Show quality in win over Canada by International Cricket Council

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Event:

ICC World Cricket League Americas Region Division One 2008/09

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DateLine: 2nd December 2008

 

At the Central Broward Regional Park stadium in Lauderhill, hosts USA took a significant step towards the 2008 Americas championship with an ultimately comprehensive victory over North American rivals Canada by 81 runs. In what was in reality a see-saw battle, with periods of holding the upper hand for both sides, it was the USA’s qualities of perseverance and determination that saw them through critical periods of play and eventually to victory.

 

With back-to-back wins over ODI opposition in Bermuda and Canada, the USA have clearly showed how much quality is in the team.

 

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, the USA got off to the worst possible start, losing Nadkarni and Cush with the total on three, with Canadian skipper Umar Bhatti claiming both key wickets. Despite some repair work from Carl Wright (40, off 70 balls with 5 fours) and captain Steve Massiah (22, off 27 balls, 4 fours), at 89 for 6 after 29 overs, the scenario was bleak.

 

However to the rescue came Aditya Thyagarajan and Orlando Baker, who together added a priceless 105 runs in 20 overs, and steered the USA to a 50 over total of 201 for 8. Thyagarajan finished unbeaten on 84 at the end of the innings, made off 99 balls and including 5 fours. Baker, coming in at number eight, made 38, from 63 balls with 2 fours.

 

Bhatti finished with 2 for 48 in 9 overs, while Harvir Baidwan took 3 for 38 in 9 overs, but best of the Canadian bowlers was perhaps left-arm spinner Sunil Dhaniram, wicketless in 10 overs but conceding a mere 14 runs.

 

In reply, Canada made a slow but steady start, with Sandeep Jyoti and Asif Mulla putting on 44 for the first wicket. Jyoti was top-scorer for Canada with 40, from 83 balls with 3 fours, while Mulla made 18. The rest of the Canadian innings was more than disappointing, with wickets falling at regular intervals, especially with Orlando Baker in particularly fine form.

 

At 78 for 2 in the 25th over, the game was perhaps finely balanced, but Baker’s superb performance of seam bowling tore the Canadian innings apart, and they lost their remaining wickets for only 42 runs to be all out for 120 and slide to a 81 run defeat.

 

Baker eventually finished with 5 for 31 in his 10 overs, with opener Imran Awan also bowling brilliantly to take 3 for 14 in 8,5 overs. Sudesh Dhaniram more than matched Sunil’s performance, recording extraordinary figures of 1 for 10 in 9 overs.

 

USA team manager was rightly overjoyed with his teams performance and their great victory: “We proved that we can overcome adversity, thanks to Aditya (Thyragarajan) and Orlando (Baker), recovering from 3 for 2 and 88 for 6 to make a decent 201. We’ve also proved that the US batting order has depth and class and can compete at the highest level. The only way is up from here! We have beaten two ODI teams, which should prove our strength and worth.”

 

Canadian captain Umar Bhatti was extremely disappointed: “We were below par today, with batsmen repeating their mistakes over and over again. The US batsmen batted well and that made all the difference. We failed to convert a good start into a positive one.”

 

Tomorrow in the last round of matches sees the USA take on the Cayman Islands, and it is difficult, on current form, to see the hosts slipping up at the final hurdle. Canada and Bermuda meet with only slim hopes of snatching the title away from the USA – whoever wins between them will have to hope for a Cayman Islands upset, and then also hope net run rate runs in their favour.

 

On the Central Broward Regional Park “B” Field, Bermuda batted themselves to victory against Argentina, racking up an imposing 341 for 4 in fifty overs, thanks largely to a brilliant innings from Glenn Blakeney, who made 118 not out, off 113 balls with 14 fours and 2 sixes.

 

David Hemp weighed in with an accomplished 58 not out off 68 balls, with 3 fours and a six, and together with Blakeney, added an undefeated 139 runs for the fifth wicket. Earlier Lionel Cann continued his rich vein of form by blasting 63 off only 33 balls, with 6 fours and 5 sixes. Christopher Douglas weighed in with 29, and skipper Irving Romaine made 26.

 

For Argentina, Diego Lord yet again proved to be the most consistent and effective of their bowlers, taking 2 for 38 in 8 overs, while Esteban Nino took 2 for 70 in 10 overs. A poor start, at 17 for 2, it was all over bar the shouting, although Argentina batted resolutely to finish on 195 for 6 at the end of their 50 overs. Tomas Francis made a stylish half-century, reaching exactly 50 off 105 balls with 3 fours, while all-rounder added a fluent unbeaten 44, from 57 balls with 3 fours and a six.

 

Wicket-keeper Alejandro Ferguson made 34, from 46 balls, 2 fours, while Donny Forrester contributed 23, off 35 balls and including 3 fours. Thus a convincing win for Bermuda by 146 runs, thus they will meet Canada with a win the priority, while Argentina will take on Suriname to determine which team is relegated to Division 2.

 

Bermuda coach Gus Logie commented: “Today was a morale boosting and confidence building performance. The players knew they underachieved in their previous game (against the USA) and they were determined to get back on track. It was especially pleasing to witness the quality and class of Glenn Blakeney’s first hundred for Bermuda, but it was a little disappointing we were unable to bowl out the opposition.”

 

Player-coach for Argentina, Hamish Barton, took some positives out of the defeat: “Bermuda are a very attacking batting team, and it was always going to be difficult to defend, but we did well and I am happy with our progress. We stuck to the task of batting out 50 overs and reaching around 200. We are improving every day and that was our goal for this tournament.”

 

At Brian Piccolo Park, Suriname showed encouraging signs of improvement even though they were ultimately heavily defeated by 8 wickets in their clash against the Cayman Islands. After being put in to bat, the Surinamese batsmen worked hard to pass 100 for the first time in the tournament, eventually being bowled out for 103 in 46 overs. Kemraj Hardat batted positively to make 31, from 48 balls including 5 fours, while young Arun Gokoel showed continued improvement in making a resolute 20 from 67 balls.

 

Starring for the Cayman Islands was veteran leg-spinner Michael Wight, who took the last five wickets to fall and finishing with an outstanding 5 for 7 in 6 overs. Kevin Bazil was equally miserly, taking 1 for 8 in 8 overs. The Cayman Islands made relatively short work of the target, reaching 105 for 2 in 21 overs. All-rounder Ryan Bovell top-scored with 40, made from 40 balls with 2 fours, while young wicket-keeper batsman Ramon Sealy finished undefeated on 39 off 50 balls with 2 fours. For Suriname, Sanjai Oemraw showed yet again that he is the best of their bowlers, taking 1 for 28 in 10 overs amidst the Cayman Islands run-chase.

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2008 International Cricket Council)