USA achieved a crushing 285-run win over Fiji on Saturday to secure a perfect start to its Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 5 campaign.
Steve Massiah batting against Fiji in the ICC Division 5 Tournament. (Photo by Daniela Zaharia/USACA)
Batting first it made an impressive 353-8 off 50 overs, with skipper Steve Massiah (74 not out), Rashard Marshall (61) and Lennox Cush (50) all making half centuries.
Josefa Dabea took four of the US wickets to fall, although he did concede 84 runs off his eight overs.
In reply, Fiji struggled to cope with the quality of the USA bowling attack, and was bowled out for just 68 all out.
Fast bowler Kevin Darlington (3-9) and Imran Awan (3-16) both took three wickets, with Dabea (13) the only player to reach double figures.
Captain Steve Massiah was delighted by the efforts of his players and admitted things couldn?t really have gone any better.
‘It was a positive start – just the start we were looking for,’ said Massiah.
‘I felt very good – it is always good to get some runs and hopefully I can continue this form.’
‘Our aim was to get above 300 and we wanted to get four or five partnerships of 50 or more. It was a terrific batting performance.
‘The bowling was disciplined and very professional. We aimed to create pressure and we did that very well.’
SCOREBOARD
United States of America Innings
Wright+ run out ( Ravoka ) 1
Baker lbw Cakacaka 46
Massiah* run out ( Rika ) 74
Cush c Kida b Dabea 50
Thyagarajan b Dabea 39
Marshall c Yabaki b Dabea 61
Allen lbw Dabea 32
Williams not out 9
Verma run out ( Cakacaka ) 6
Imran Awan not out 7
Darlington 0
Extras (b 9, lb 3, w 11, nb 5, pen ) 28
Total 353
Extras (b 9, lb 3, w 11, nb 5, pen )
Bowling
Yabaki 9.0 0 72 0
Tavo 4.0 0 25 0
Waqaituinayau 7.0 0 41 0
Kida 10.0 0 73 0
Browne 2.0 0 13 0
Cakacaka 10.0 1 33 1
Dabea 8.0 0 84 4
Fall of wickets: 1 – 2 (Wright, 0.1), 2 – 131 (Massiah, 23.3), 3 – 150 (Baker, 26.5), 4 – 234 (Thyagarajan, 39.4), 5 – 243 (Cush, 41.1), 6 – 330 (Marshall, 47.4), 7 – 330 (Allen, 47.5), 8 – 339 (Verma, 48.6)
Fiji Innings
Bulabalavu lbw Darlington 9
Ravoka c Baker b Darlington 6
Cakacaka st Baker b Cush 7
Sorovakatini+ lbw Allen 2
Kida c Marshall b Darlington 5
Dabea not out 13
Rika* b Imran Awan 2
Browne b Imran Awan 0
Yabaki b Imran Awan 0
Waqaituinayau lbw Verma 1
Tavo lbw Baker 2
Extras (b 8, lb 1, w 12, nb 0, pen ) 21
Total 68
Extras (b 8, lb 1, w 12, nb 0, pen )
Bowling
Darlington 6 0 9 3
Allen 5 1 23 1
Cush 7 3 7 1
Imran Awan 8 1 16 3
Verma 2 1 3 1
Baker 0.2 0 1 1
Fall of wickets: 1 – 13 (Bulabalavu, 2.3), 2 – 22 (Ravoka, 4.6), 3 – 25 (Sorovakatini, 7.1), 4 – 30 (Kida, 8.2), 5 – 38 (Cakacaka, 11.3), 6 – 56 (Rika, 22.3), 7 – 58 (Browne, 24.6), 8 – 62 (Yabaki, 26.2), 9 – 65 (Waqaituinayau, 27.3), 10 – 68 (Tavo, 28.2)