Tucker and De Alvis share opening day's honours in Americas U/19 Qualifier

Slow bowlers Tamauri Tucker and Sacha De Alvis stole the limelight on the opening day of the Americas U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier by bowling Bermuda and the Cayman Islands to comfortable victories in Toronto on Monday.

Tucker returned figures of 6.4-1-9-6 as Bermuda defeated the Bahamas by 195 runs while the Caymans Islands beat Argentina by 10 wickets after de Alvis took 5-16 from 5.1 overs.

The winner of this event will join the ICC's 10 Full Members, hosts Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea and Ireland (which recently qualified from the East-Asia Pacific and European Regions respectively) at the 16-team ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup to be played from 17 February to 2 March 2008 in Malaysia.

Bermuda, batting first after winning the toss, collected 300-8 in 50 overs with Dennico Hollis finishing unbeaten on 76. His 88-ball innings was laced with six fours and a six. Opener Steven Bremar was the other notable run-getter with 43 from 45 balls with seven boundaries.

It was Hollis's masterful knock that took the game away from the Bahamas after Bermuda had slumped to 154-7. Hollis put on 60 runs for the eighth wicket with Kyle Hodsoll (18) and 86 runs in an unfinished ninth wicket stand with Gregory Maybury (17 not out).

The Bahamas, in its chase, lost its last eight wickets for nine runs to be spun out for 105 in 37.4 overs. It was cruising nicely at 96-2 before the introduction of Tucker turned the match on its head as the bowler caused havoc.

Extras were the top contributors with 26 while captain Gregory Taylor (24) and Jeremy Jesubatham (20) were the other main run-getters.

The Cayman Islands was also a comfortable winner over Argentina. De Alvis was the man responsible for setting up a cake-walk victory for the islanders as he picked up 5-16 as Argentina slumped from 62-2 to 126 all out in 28.1 overs.

The Cayman Islands captain Ramon Sealy then stroked a quickfire 76 from 72 balls with 11 fours and six as his side achieved its target in 18.4 overs. Zachary Mclaughlin was 25 not out.

On Tuesday, Bermuda takes on the Cayman Islands while Canada meets Argentina. Both the matches will be played at the Mapleleaf CC, King City.

Scores in brief:

Bermuda beat Bahamas by 195 runs

Bermuda: 300-8 in 50 overs (Dennico Hollis 76 not out, Steven Bremar 43, Malachi Jones 28, Jonathan Barry 10-0-71-4, Marc Taylor 2-38)

Bahamas: 105 in 37.4 overs (Gregory Taylor 24, Tamauri Tucker 6.4-1-9-6, Rodney Trott 2-14)

The Cayman Islands beat Argentina by 10 wickets

Argentina: 126 in 28.1 overs (Sacha de Alvis 5.1-0-16-5, Derado Thompson 2-24)

Cayman Islands: 128-0 in 18.4 overs (Ramon Sealy 76 not out, Zachary Mclaughlin 25 not out)

The ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup is a vital part of the ICC Development Program and provides a vehicle for the best young cricketers in the world to parade their skills.

Many of the future stars of the game experience their first true international exposure at this tournament and players such as Brian Lara, Michael Atherton, Yuvraj Singh, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Cairns, Michael Clarke, Graeme Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya have used the event as a stepping stone to full international honours.

First staged in Australia in 1988, the tournament was initially organised on an occasional basis, but since the commencement of the ICC Development Program in 1997 it has become a biennial fixture.

The 2010 ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup will be held in Kenya while the 2012 tournament will be staged in Canada and UAE will host the 2014 edition.