Battling Adams guides Bermuda to third win
Bermuda completed their Canadian tour with a workmanlike but comfortable 62-run victory -- their third in five matches -- over a cosmopolitan Toronto Cricket Club side yesterday.
But coach Allan Douglas, while happy with the way his team performed, warned there was still much work to be done before the squad head south for the Red Stripe Cup in November.
And he suggested at least one more tour was needed to sharpen the players for the standard of international competition they can expect in the Caribbean.
A dogged and disciplined innings from middle order batsman Aaron Adams on the heels of impressive knocks by Charlie Marshall and Richard Basden laid the foundation for yesterday's win, and dispelled some of the concern over Bermuda's ability to combat spin bowling.
Adams hit the top score of 48 while Marshall (30) and Basden (34) combined in a useful stand of 60 as Bermuda went on to make 220 all out in 48.4 of their allotted 50 overs.
Toronto CC, a team made up of Canadians, Bangladeshis, Indians and Pakistanis who are currently lying second in the Toronto and District Premier League with games in hand, could only muster 158 in reply as they too were bowled out in 48 overs.
"It was a good win in the end,'' said Douglas. "I was a bit concerned early on. I was worried how our bowlers would perform as I knew Toronto had a couple of good batsmen. But we stuck to the task and it worked out well.
"As you know we always have problems with spin, but the boys really played it well today. Aaron Adams had a fantastic knock. He came in in the middle and stayed almost until the end, the skipper (Marshall) got a few runs and Richard (Basden) finally enjoyed a decent knock.
"It was a good workout for us. I wanted us to be exposed to spin so we can work on it and I think we learned a lot from today's match.'' However, the coach admitted he was still concerned about some players' inability to master the game's basics.
"Running between the wickets, we were standing out there with the bat in the wrong hand, we weren't backing up. We're not walking in correctly, we're not backing up when the ball's being thrown in. I have it all on video. These are basics we need to concentrate on. Once we master these little things, we could save another 20 to 30 runs.'' Opting to bat after winning the toss, Bermuda struggled for runs in the early overs. Openers Albert Steede and Dennis Archer both went cheaply, Steede stumped for seven and Archer caught for six, both off the bowling of Andrew Bracht.
And when Clay Smith returned to the pavilion with a muscle strain, having added only two, Bermuda found themselves in a mini-crisis.
But sensible and controlled batting from skipper Marshall and Basden steadied the ship.
The pair added 60 for the third wicket -- the best stand of the innings -- with Marshall stroking 30 before falling victim to the quick hands of wicketkeeper Ashiski Bakai who nailed his second stumping, and Basden hit 34 before being caught behind.
Adams then continued the good work, compiling Bermuda's best score of 48 although he couldn't find a reliable partner at the other end.
Sixteen year-old OJ Pitcher never got a chance to showcase his precocious talent as he was somewhat unluckily run out after adding just two and when Smith returned, showing no sign of the injury which caused him to leave the crease, he too managed only four more before being caught as he attempted to sweep new bowler Akshay Bagai.
At a precarious 126-6 after 31 overs, it was left to Adams to fill the anchor role, allowing the likes of Janeiro Tucker, who hit a lusty 19, including a huge six over long-off, to attack the bowling.
After Tucker had his off stump removed by Akshay Bagai, Dean Minors added only eight before being run out and Adams finally ran out of patience as he was caught by Andrew Bracht off Bakai attempting to hook, just two short of his half century.
Tailenders Peter Philpott (not out 15) and Herbie Bascome put on 17 valuable runs for the last wicket before Bascome was caught as he tried to loft Kumar over the long-on boundary.
Toronto got off to a solid start in reply with openers Graham Castaneiro (38) and Zubin Sukari (20) putting on 56 for the first wicket, but they were always behind the required run rate.
And once Castaneiro had been bowled by Dennis Archer and Sukari run out, the hosts faced an uphill battle. Middle order batsmen Joe Harris thumped 28 but Akshay Bagai (18), Andrew Bracht (12) and last man Vikal Kumar were the only others in double figures.
All of the six bowlers used bowled efficiently with Smith mopping up the tail to finish with the best figures of 3-28. Basden carved through the middle order to return 3-35 while Herbie Bascome had 1-27, Dennis Archer 1-20, Peter Philpott 1-33 and Janeiro Tucker 0-8.
BERMUDA A.Steede st Ashiski Bagai b A.Bracht 7 D.Archer c Akshay Bagai b A.Bracht 6 C.Smith c A.Bracht b Akshay Bagai 6 C.Marshall st Ashiski b A. Bhardway 30 R.Basden c Ashiski Bagai b V.Kumar 34 A.Adams c A.Bracht b Akshay Bagai 48 O.Pitcher run out 2 J.Tucker b Akshay Bagai 19 D.Minors run out 8 P.Philpott not out 5 H.Bascome c S.Cheema b V.Kumar 6 Extras (24w, 8lb, 7b) 39 Total (all out in 48.4 overs) 220 Fall of wickets: 1-15 2-18 3-78 4-111 5-118 6- 126 7-157 8-192 9-203 Bowling: Andrew Bracht 10-2-30-2; Jeff Freshwater 5-0-17-0; Arohi Bhardwaj 10-1-45-1; Vikal Kumar 8.4-0-30-2; Akshay Bagai 9-0-52-3; Suky Cheema 6-0-31-0 TORONTO CC G.Castaneiro b D.Archer 38 Z.Sukari run out 20 Ashiski Bagai c A.Adams b P.Philpott 4 Akshay Bagai b H.Bascome 18 J.Harris c A.Adams b R.Basden.28 S.Cheema c A.Steede b R.Basden 2 J.Thomas c D.Minors b R.Basden 3 A.Bracht c D.Archer b C.Smith 12 A.Bharwaj c R.Basden b C.Smith 2 J.Freshwater not out 4 V.Kumar c J.Tucker b C.Smith 10 Extras (10w, 5lb, 2b) 17 Total (all out in 48 overs) 158 Fall of wickets: 1-56 2-64 3-79 4-106 5-114 6- 121 7-136 8-142 9-147 Bowling: Herbie Bascome 10-1-27-1; Richard Basden 10-1-35-3; Dennis Archer 10-3-20-1; Janeiro Tucker 2-0-8-0; Peter Philpott 10-2-33-1; Clay Smith 6-1-28-3 Result: Bermuda won by 62 runs