Massiah rescues USA

Bermuda 18 for 0 trail USA 297 for 9 dec (Massiah 104) by 279 runs
Scorecard

Steve Massiah's patient innings of 104 was the highlight of the first day's play of the second Americas region Intercontinental Cup match at the National Sports Centre in Bermuda. United States of America won the toss and expectedly opted to bat on a pitch not expected to last the full distance. Several of USA's batsmen got starts - there were eight scores of more than 10 - but apart from Massiah, no-one topped 30, as USA managed 297 for 9 in their 90 overs.

Coming in at the fall of the first wicket, at 16, Massiah faced 234 deliveries and struck just five fours in his innings, and was the seventh batsman to be dismissed, with the score on 266. Along the way, he stitched together a few handy partnerships, the most substantial of which was the 79 runs he added with Tony Reid for the sixth wicket.

For Bermuda, Dennis Archer was the most successful bowler, taking 3 for 30 from 15 overs, while Dwayne Leverock, a left-arm spinner, performed the role of stock bowler admirably, bowling 32 overs to return figures of 2 for 93.

Bermuda's openers, Stephen Outerbridge and Wendell White, were caution personified in the 13 overs before close of play, scoring just 18 runs in the process. Importantly, both survived, ensuring that Bermuda still had a decent opportunity of mounting a serious challenge on USA's first-innings total.