Comprehensive wins for Canada and Bermuda
A round-up of the fourth day of matches in the ICC Americas Under-19 Regional Qualifiers
Cricinfo staff
11-Jul-2009
Canada successfully defended 192 in King City • International Cricket Council
Canada Under-19s look certain to take one of two spots in the Under-19 World Cup qualifiers in September as they beat USA Under-19s by 62 runs at the Maple Leaf South-West Ground in King City. Canada opted to bat but could manage only 192, despite keeping wickets in hand at the start. They progressed steadily till the 30th over, reaching 117 for 3, but later struggled against the USA spinners and failed to pass 200. R Gunasekera was the top scorer with 42, while N Kumar, R Bhatti and H Patel chipped in with 30s. The USA captain Shiva Vashishat took 3 for 40.
USA, in reply lost their openers with the score on 28. They progressed at four runs-per-over but failed to keep wickets intact. Greg Sewdial top scored with 41 before he was run-out, courtesy a brilliant direct hit by Usman Limbada. H.Patel (3 for 28), R Gunasekera (2 for 18) and M Aulakh (2 for 24) were the most effective bowlers for Canada.
Canada's victory sets up the possibility of a three-way tie for first place, should they lose to Bermuda on Saturday and the USA beat the Cayman Islands. Canada currently lead the net run rate, but a loss on Saturday by a big margin to Bermuda and a USA victory also by a big margin could see USA and Bermuda moving on to the qualifier.
At the Maple Leaf South-East Ground, Bermuda U-19s trounced Bahamas U-19s by 106 runs. Christopher Douglas turned in a sound all-round performance, top scoring with 78 and then taking 3 for 32 to pick the Man-of-the-Match award. Joshua Gilbert chipped in with 50 to push Bermuda to 257. Orlando Stuart was the leading bowler for Bermuda with 4 for 43. Tre Manders then ran through the Bahamas line-up with 5 for 18 to bundle them out for 151. Jermaine Adderley was the top scorer with 51.
At the Maple Leaf North-East Ground, Argentina crashed to 74 against Cayman Islands and lost by 91 runs. Cayman Islands Captain Ramon top scored with 77 as his team posted 165. However, Cayman Islands were restricted by the youngest player in the tournament, 13-year-old legspinner Lautaro Agustin Musiani, who took 4 for 28 in his 10 overs.