South American Cricket Championships 2000, Day 1 Report

Argentina 'A' got over first day nerves to ease past Venezuela in a day-night encounter at Belgrano.

Thanks largely to a resolute 57 from opening bat Mike Palmer, Venezuela set the hosts a testing target after compiling 151 all out in 37.1 of their allotted 40 overs.

Good support came from Sandilya with 28 and Amir with 33. For the Argentines, pick of the bowlers was Murray Davis, who ended with impressive figures of 4 for 20 in 7.1 overs. Juan Pablo Pussi showed his potential with 3 for 29.

Man of the Match Gaston Arizaga added to his 2 for 34 with a fine opening innings of 60 not out to steer Argentina "A" home comfortably. Murray Davis added 33, and Paul Ferguson an undefeated 22.

Chile got off to a flying start in their quest for South American glory with a deserved if unexpected win over the fancied Guyana Masters combination.

Hamish Mackenzie top-scored with 79, added to a 55 from Ian Scott, and 35 from Green and 32 from Hooper, saw Chile end their allotted 40 overs with an impressive total of 266 for 7. Persaud, with 2 for 48, was the pick of the Guyana bowlers.

Chile then held their nerve to restrict the free-scoring Guyana batsmen to 230 all out. Singh top-scored with 73, Persaud added to his all-round contribution with 44, with support from Rawana, 23, and Karim, 29. Tony Adams did the damage with 4 for 26.

At Lomas Brazil beat Peru, thanks largely to a great innings of 95 from Matt Featherstone.

Peru batted first, making 188 for 7 in their 40 overs. De Wit topscored with 58, with good knocks contributing from Hildebrand, 32, and Forbes, 38.

Swan, 3 for 17, and Salt, 3 for 35, were the pick of the Brazilian bowlers. Featherstone's innings was deserved of a century, but his 95, added to 29 from Salt, was the cornerstone of Brazil reaching 189 for 5 in 36.3 overs. Best Peruvian bowler was Abbott, with 2 for 42.

GREEN GROUP 1. Chile 1 1 0 0 0 4 2. Panama 0 0 0 0 0 0 3. Guyana Masters 1 0 1 0 0 0

DAY 2: Fixtures
11.00: Argentina "A" v Brazil at Lomas
11.00: Peru v Venezuela at Corimayo
11.00: Guyana Masters v Panama at Pinazo