USA and Canada set for U-19 showdown

Canada, as expected, comfortably beat Argentina while the USA beat Bermuda in a key match featuring two of the three sides fancied to challenge for the top two places in the ICC Americas Under-19 Regional Qualifier. The results mean Canada and the USA go head-to-head with unbeaten records on Friday at Maple Leaf Cricket Club, King City.

Canada scored an impressive 344 for 9 against Argentina. Opening bat Hiral Patel struck his third half-century of the tournament, captain Rustum Bhatti hit 65, Nitesh Kumar 61 and Arsalan Qadir struck 51 in the later overs. Qadir followed with 3 for 12 and legspinner Ruvindu Gunasekera took 3 for 2 as Argentina were bowled out for 75.

The USA beat Bermuda by 64 runs, but the coaches in each camp will surely focus on how each side seemed to be well on the way to scoring many more runs. The USA were going well, even after losing their second wicket at 128, but the efforts of Azurdeen Mohammed and Ryan Corns almost went to waste as they finished with 230, with several overs unused. Ironically, Bermuda were going well until Chris Douglas was caught off a miscued drive. A couple of overs later, Bermuda had spun to 132 for 6. There were no late heroics for as they were bowled out for 166.

Cayman Islands picked up their first win of the tournament, beating Bahamas by eight wickets as Bahamas were bowled out for 75.

With Thursday a rest day, on Friday Canada and the USA will meet in a game pivotal to both the Under-19 Regional Championship and for the two places in the Under-19 Global World Cup Qualifier to be held in September. The fifth and final round-robin games to decide the top two places are on Saturday, when the US would be expected to beat Cayman Islands, but Canada face Bermuda.

Day 3
USA 230 beat Bermuda 166 by 64 runs
Canada 344 for 9 beat Argentina 75 by 269 runs
Bahamas 75 lost to Cayman Islands 76 for 2 by eight wickets

Day 2
Bermuda 218 for 9 beat Cayman Islands 103 by 115 runs
Bahamas 118 lost to Canada 119 for 1 by nine wickets
Argentina 116 lost to USA 118 for 1 by nine wickets

Day 1
Cayman Islands 84 lost to Canada 85 for 0 by ten wickets
Argentina 89 lost to Bermuda 93 for 2 by eight wickets
USA 325 for 9 beat Bahamas 75 by 250 runs