Canada inch towards Championships glory

Bermuda 194 for 9 (Smith 62, Mukuddem 62, Patel 4-47) lost to Canada 195 for 7 (Billcliff 54)
Scorecard

Canada took a step closer to the Americas Championship with a hard-fought win over Bermuda at the National Sports Centre. In reality, the margin of victory (3 wickets with 5 balls to spare) should have been more comfortable, but a combination of a late Bermuda rally, and some indisciplined batting from the Canadian middle order took the game to the wire.

Needing 195 for victory after Bermuda had posted a total of 194 for 9 in their 50 overs, Canada were at one stage poised for an emphatic victory at 167 for 1 in the 43rd over. But then they slumped spectacularly to 181 for 7 in the 48th over. Finally, Maxwell and Codrington steered clear of any further disasters to see Canada home with 5 balls remaining.

Earlier Bermuda had struggled against some accurate Canadian bowling, and were heavily reliant on a fifth wicket partnership of 94 runs between skipper Clay Smith (62) and Saheed Mukuddem (62 not out) that eventually took Bermuda to 194 for 9 in 50 overs. They came together in the 19th over, with the score on 60 for 4, and were eventually separated in the 42nd over. Only one other Bermudan batsman got into double figures, Glenn Blakeney, with 19.

The Canadian spin attack spearheaded by John Davison (2 for 28 in 10 overs) and Sunil Dhaniram (0 for 23 in 10 overs) gave nothing away, while seamers Ashish Patel (3-36) and Austin Codrington (4-47) picked up wickets at both ends of the innings.

Canada's reply was built around a solid half-century from Ian Billcliff (54), with valuable support coming from Surkari (46) and Chumney (39). For Bermuda, Dennis Archer bowled well to return figures of 4 for 24 in 7 overs, but until the last minute drama, the bowlers had struggled to make inroads into the top-order Canadian batting.

Canada now meet the Cayman Islands tomorrow, and a win will ensure their second Americas Championship title, after their win in 2000, with an unbeaten record in this tournament.

USA 275 (Ali 89) beat Argentina 168 (van Steeden 52, Amin 5-31) by 107 runs
Scorecard

At St. David's cricket ground, the United States scored a convincing 107-run victory over Argentina, and kept their slim Americas Championship title hopes alive. To successfully defend the title they won in Argentina two years ago, USA have to beat Bermuda tomorrow, and hope the Cayman Islands pull off a huge upset and defeat Canada.

Sent in to bat, the United States piled on the runs in the early part of their innings and made 275 all out in 47.4 overs. Aijaz Ali top-scored with a sparkling 89, and good contributions came from Richard Staple (46), Clayton Lambert (42) and Steve Massiah (32). The pick of the Argentina bowlers was Diego Lord (3-62).

In reply, Argentina got off to a sound start thanks to the openers Gaston Arizaga (35) and Matias Paterlini (23), who put on 59 for the first wicket. After their partnership was broken though, wickets fell at regular intervals, and it was only thanks to a entertaining and hard-hitting half-century from Malcolm Van Steeden (52) that took Argentina to 168 all out in 44.1 overs.

For USA, Zamin Amin, the left-arm spinner who later won the Man of the Match award, took the first five Argentine wickets to fall and finished with 5 for 31 off his 10 overs. Nasir Islam was the next bowler to shine with 2 for 18 in 9 overs.

Bahamas 184 (Best 4-44)lost to Cayman Islands 188 for 3 (Gordon 61, Wight 53) by 7 wickets
Scorecard

The Cayman Islands clinched one of the four available World Cup Qualifying Series spots with a comfortable 7-wicket win over an improved Bahamas outfit. The Caymans still retain a mathematical chance of slipping into one of the three direct qualification places, should they beat Canada on Sunday, and do so well enough to so their run rate is boosted sufficiently to pass Bermuda.

The Bahamas batted with purpose and posted a respectable 184 all out in 49.4 overs at the Southampton Oval. In deep trouble at one stage at 62 for 6, skipper Gary Armstrong (31) and Khamenauth Seeram (41 not out) shared in a fine seventh-wicket partnership of 64 to take the Bahamas out of trouble.

Pearson Best (4-44) and Saheed Mohamed (3-26) were the best of the Caymans bowlers.

A magnificent opening stand of 112 between Christopher Wight (53) and Steve Gordon (61), later named man of the match, set the stage for the Caymans victory. Pearson Best then completed a memorable all-round performance, weighing in with 44 not out.