Bahamas cruise to nine-wicket win

Bahamas beat regional rivals Cayman Islands by nine wickets in the opening game of ICC Americas Central Region's Under-15 tournament at the picturesque Haynes Oval in Nassau. The hosts, Bahamas, won the toss and sent Cayman to bat in the 30-over encounter. Cayman's batting simply failed to fire as wickets fell at regular intervals. In the end they only managed a meager total of 81 in 21 overs. Only two batsmen managed double digits with captain Michael Outar scoring 13 and Paul Laidlaw chipping in with 10. Bahamas captain Abhiram Ramesh along with Ashmeid Allie and Turan Brown captured two wickets apiece.

Bahamas chased down the target comfortably in 15.4 overs, losing just one wicket (Akash Galati) with the score on 7. Opener Brown and Allie then batted confidently and cruised to the victory target. Brown scored 31, which included six fours while Allie hit two fours in his 22.

The three-nation tournament also includes Belize, which comprise the Central Region. The tournament is being played in a double round robin format whereby each team plays four matches. The tournament continues daily until Monday August 10th. Thursday's match will be between Cayman Islands and Belize.

ICC Americas will be running a similar tournament for its Northern Region comprising Bermuda, Canada and USA from August 17th to 23rd. The tournament for the Southern Region will feature Argentina, Chile and Suriname in early 2010.