USA Start Tournament On Winning Note Beating Bermuda
USA under-19 won their first game against Bermuda in the Americas Qualifier 2017. Photo courtesy of ICC/Bryan Vandenburg
USA eased to victory in the opening fixture of the 2018 ICC U19 World Cup Qualifier in Canada, defeating Bermuda by six wickets in a rain-affected encounter.
Heavy overnight rain at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King City, Toronto meant the start of play was delayed due to a wet outfield, and an afternoon shower looked to have ended any hope of the players taking the field. However, a superb effort from the ground staff allowed play to begin shortly after 4pm, with the match reduced to 20 overs per side.
A captain’s knock from keeper-batsman Arjun Patel (46 not out) ensured USA had little trouble in chasing down Bermuda’s total of 103-8, reaching its target with 21 deliveries to spare.
Patel arrived at the crease just three balls into USA’s reply after Mohak Buch was dismissed for a second-ball duck, but the 18-year-old Californian held his nerve to produce a mature, match-winning performance, hitting two fours and two sixes in his 42-ball innings.
Harish Easwarajah (15) and Raymond Ramrattan (15) made useful contributions for USA, while Jaiden Manders was the pick of Bermuda’s bowlers, returning figures of 2-10 from 3.3 overs.
Arjun Patel top scored with an unbeaten 46.
Earlier, opening batsman Ras Solomon Burrows had scored more than half Bermuda’s total, hitting four fours and three sixes in his innings of 56 from 65 deliveries. Burrows – a talented all-round sportsman who has represented Bermuda’s national football team at U17 level – was eventually dismissed in the final over by the impressive right-arm seamer Aravind Patnam (3-12), and was one of four wickets to fall in the space of six balls, including a run out, in a pulsating finish to the innings.
The only other Bermudans to reach double figures were Dalin Richardson (14), who smashed two sixes in his six-ball stay at the crease, and Marcus Scotland (10), a 14-year-old keeper-batsman who has excelled for Surrey CCC in England at age-group level.
USA and Bermuda are battling it out with Canada for a place at the 2018 ICC U19 World Cup in New Zealand. Each country will play each other twice, with the team on top of the points table at the conclusion of the six matches declared the winner. The tournament runs from 17-23 July 2017.
Bermuda is aiming to qualify for its first ICC U19 World Cup since 2008 – the only appearance it has made in the finals. USA has qualified on two occasions, the most recent being in 2010. Canada made its fifth ICC U19 World Cup appearance in the latest edition of the tournament in 2016, finishing 15th.
The second fixture of the Americas Qualifier will see USA take on rivals Canada on Tuesday 18 July.
