Timroy Allen poses with his man of the match after helping USA defeat Italy. Photos by Shiek Mohamed
Italy v USA
USA also remained unbeaten, and Italy suffered a second consecutive defeat, in the most closely contested game of the day. Batting first after winning the toss at Wong Cricket Field, Italy scored 185 for 5 in 41 overs before picking up wickets at regular intervals to entertain hopes of a win, but USA scraped home by one wicket in the end.
Italy scored as many as it did thanks to a 118-run opening-wicket stand between Manpreet Singh and Supun Tharanga, before Damian Crawley provided the late impetus. Manpreet scored 50 in 88 balls with six fours and Tharanga hit 52 in 69 balls with three fours to give Italy the perfect start. But wickets fell after that, two to run outs, before Crawley hit two fours and a six in his unbeaten 38-ball 35.
USA last pair batsmen Jaspreet Singh and Danial Ahmad who won the game.
Gian Meade (2 for 39) and Luis di Giglio (3 for 29), the Italy new-ball bowlers, then reduced USA to 24 for 3, but a good middle-order effort ensured USA stayed in the game. Alex Amsterdam (27 in 39), Akeem Dodson (36 in 70), Nicholas Standford (25 in 18) and, chiefly, Timroy Allen (53 in 27, 4×4, 2×6) ensured the target wasn’t too far out of reach.
Allen, who was a part of Jamaica Tallawahs in the 2016 edition of the Caribbean Premier League, took USA to the doorstep of victory with his stroke-filled innings but was became the eighth man out with USA still nine runs shy of the win, but it got home in 37.2 overs.
Bermuda vs Oman
Bermuda slid to its second loss in a row in the ICC WCL Division 4, going down to Oman by four wickets at the Severn Cricket Field in Woodley Park, Los Angeles on Sunday (October 30).
Asked to bat first, Bermuda started well with Kamau Leverock (47 in 37 balls) and Dean Minors (26 in 45) giving it a 72-run first-wicket stand. But Mohammad Nadeem, the right-arm medium pacer, changed the script with three quick strikes, reducing Bermuda to 81 for 3.
There was resistance from Tre Manders (21 in 42) and, particularly, Steven Bremar (42 not out in 50), but with Khawar Ali (4 for 25), the leg-spinner, joining Nadeem (3 for 36) in picking up quick wickets, all Bermuda managed was 173 for 9 in its 40 overs.
Oman lost Arun Poulose and Zeeshan Maqsood early and continued losing wickets to stutter to 119 for 6 to raise Bermuda’s hopes. But Jatinder Singh’s unbeaten 68, scored from 52 balls with nine hits to the fence, and his unbroken 55-run seventh-wicket stand with Amir Ali (20 not out in 19) took Oman past the target in 34 overs.
It was Oman’s second win in a row after the six-wicket defeat of Jersey on Saturday.
Denmark team.
Denmark vs Jersey
Jersey, like Bermuda, also suffered its second loss on the trot after going down to Denmark by six wickets at Wright Cricket Field in Woodley Park. With this result, Denmark extended on its winning run after having beaten Italy in the first game.
Denmark won the toss and inserted Jersey, and despite a 54-run opening stand courtesy Peter Gough (22 in 35) and Nat Watkins (30 in 41), and contributions lower down from Anthony Hawkins-Kay (35 in 46) and Corey Bisson (27 in 28), all Jersey put up was 158 in 36.4 overs.
Aftab Ahmed (3 for 22), the right-arm medium pacer, and off-spinners Bashir Shah (4 for 20) and Hamid Shah (2 for 39) did most of the damage from Denmark’s point of view.
Denmark then got past the target without much fuss as Saif Ahmad led the way with an unbeaten 67 in 80 balls, with seven fours and a six. Aftab chipped in with a 24-ball 29 and Hamid gave Ahmad good company later with 41 from 70 balls, with three boundaries.
The chase was completed in 32.1 overs despite the best attempts of Ben Kynman, the right-arm medium pacer who returned 3 for 45 from 6.1 overs.