Bermuda make it three in a row

Bermuda registered their third successive win in as many games in the 2006 Americas Championship in Toronto, Canada, with a resounding 93 run victory over high-riding Cayman Islands at the Maple Leaf CC, and took a big step closer to the Americas Championship title.

Bermuda won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bat on a wicket that has seen four centuries scored over the first two days. Still, they found the going tough against a Cayman team naturally buoyed by yesterday's big win over Canada. Their final score of 264 for 9 in their allotted 50 overs was set up by a superb 118 run partnership for the third wicket between opener Stephen Outerbridge and captain Irving Romaine.

23 year old Outerbridge was desperately unlucky not to register a deserved century when he was run out on 96, a polished innings off 122 balls including 8 fours. Romaine added 50 in 71 balls, with 4 fours.

Pick of the Cayman bowlers were opener Troy Taylor with 3 for 52, and right-arm off-spinner Saheed Mohammed, with 3 for 46, both in their full 10 overs.

In reply, Cayman Islands lost two early wickets to set back their run chase, and even though Michael Wight and Pearson Best did their best to get them back on course with a determined 53 run third wicket partnership, Bermuda persistently picked up wickets and the target got ever further and further out of reach.

Best ultimately top-scored with 55, off 88 balls including 6 fours, in Cayman Islands reply of 171 all out in 42,2 overs. Wight weighed in with 26, and Franklin Hinds contributed 25.

For Bermuda, Romaine led from the front and completed a fine all-round performance by taking 3 for 16 in 5,2 overs, while South African born seamer Saleem Mukuddem bowled tightly in returning figures of 3 for 22 in 7 overs.

Bermuda can now claim their first-ever Americas Championship on Friday when they meet the USA in their fourth and final game, while the Cayman Islands will now focus on not faltering in their final game on Saturday against Argentina which would clinch them qualification for next years World Cricket League Division 3.