Coolidge Cricket Ground (Argentina won toss): Bermuda (2pts) beat Argentina (0) by three wickets

Bermuda closed out their ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier campaign with a nail-biting three-wicket victory over Argentina yesterday.

Despite securing a seven-wicket success over Belize a day earlier – in which Allan Douglas Jr smashed 54 from 25 balls and debutant Jabari Darrell impressed with two wickets – Bermuda’s quest for progression to the Global Qualifier had ended before their final encounter, with the United States and Canada claiming the top two spots respectively.

Although pride and a third-place finish in the standings was still to play for it was to prove anything but a straightforward outing against Argentina for Bermuda, as they were made to work to avoid an upset by their South American opponents.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Argentina openers Pedro Baron (24) and Lautaro Musiani (27) quickly got into their rhythm taking the score to 42-0 from five overs. Bermuda finally made a breakthrough with the penultimate ball of the sixth over as Baron was caught brilliantly by Dion Stovell off the bowling of Zeko Burgess.

Argentina managed to regain composure with Alejandro Ferguson coming in alongside Musiani to reach the halfway stage at 70 for one. However, without a further run being added, the latter was dismissed by Douglas with the first ball of the eleventh over.

The over finished as it started, with Douglas claiming his second wicket, this time Ferguson (7) falling, caught leg-before, with just a further five runs added to leave Argentina on 75 for three.

With a further eight runs added to the total over the next over, Douglas completed his three-wicket haul, bowling and catching Ramiro Escobar (11) to turn suddenly turn the tie in Bermuda’s favour, with the score at 83 for four from 12.3 overs.

Martin Siri and Pedro Bruno (6) managed to settle the nerves somewhat, reaching the 100 run mark from 15 overs, before the latter was bowled and caught by Delray Rawlins at the end of the seventeenth over with the total standing at 106 for five.

Alan Kirschbaum (10 not out) joined Siri (28 not out) at the crease, with the pair managing to bat out the remaining three overs, adding a further 24 to the total to set Bermuda a target of 131 for victory.

In reply, Bermuda looked to be on course as openers Douglas (26) and Tre Manders (37) took the score to 45 without loss from the first six overs. However after losing the former two balls later, caught off the bowling of Musiani, wickets fell at more regular intervals, as victory looked less assured than it had previously.

Having reached 71 for two at the halfway stage of the innings, Rawlins (4) also fell cheaply, dismissed by Musiani at the start of the ninth over, before both captain Kamau Leverock (21) and Manders both also departed within the space of an over off the bowling of Musiani and Agustin Husain respectively, to leave Bermuda sitting nervously on 89 for four after 12 overs.

Onias Bascome (11) and Okera Bascome (1) also both fell victim to Husain in the sixteenth over, while Macai Simmons (11) departed at the start of the next, caught off the bowling of Alan Kirschbaum, leaving Bermuda on 111 for seven.

However, despite the collapse, victory was still in Bermuda’s hands, needing 18 from 21 balls. While it proved a tense finish as the match entered the final over, Dion Stovell (10) and Rodney Trott (9) managed to see out the game, with the latter hitting the final four required runs with four balls remaining, to seal victory.

SCORECARD

Argentina

P Baron c Stovell b Burgess 24

L Musiani c Hodsoll b Douglas 27

A Ferguson lbw b Douglas 7

†R Escobar c and b Douglas 11

M Siri not out 28

P Bruno c and b Rawlins 6

A Kirschbaum not out 10

Extras (lb 1, w 16) 17

Total (5 wkts; 20 overs) 130

*H Fennell, E Nino, T Rossi and A Husain did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-70, 3-75, 4-83, 5-106.

Bowling: Leverock 4-0-27-0; Hodsoll 2-0-21-0; Rawlins 4-0-25-1; Burgess 2-0-13-1; Douglas 4-0-28-3; Trott 4-0-15-0.

Bermuda

A Douglas c Baron b Musiani 26

T Manders c Baron b Husain 37

D Rawlins c Ferguson b Musiani 4

*K Leverock c Siri b Musiani 21

Onias Bascome c Kirschbaum b Husain 11

M Simmons c Musiani b Kirschbaum 11

†Okera Bascome c and b Husain 1

D Stovell not out 10

R Trott not out 9

Extras (w 1) 1

Total (7 wkts; 19.2 overs) 131

Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-55, 3-89, 4-89, 5-104, 6-106, 7-112.

Bowling: Rossi 4-0-25-0; Fennell 3.2-0-32-0; Musiani 4-0-31-3; Kirschbaum 4-0-35-1; Husain 4-1-8-3.

Umpires: J Williams and L Reifer.

Third umpire: E Carrington.

Other result

Coolidge Cricket Ground (Canada won toss): Canada 245-1 (20 overs; R Pathan 107 not out, N Dhaliwal 65, H Tariq 55 not out); Panama 37 (17.2 overs; S Nazar 3 for 8). Canada (2pts) beat Panama (0) by 208 runs.

Final table

P W L NR Pts NRR

United States (q) 6 6 0 0 12 3.0770

Canada (q) 6 5 1 0 10 5.3121

Bermuda 6 4 2 0 8 2.2646

Argentina 6 2 4 0 4 -0.3309

Bahamas 6 2 4 0 4 -2.7445

Panama 6 1 5 0 2 -3.4770

Belize 6 1 5 0 2 -3.8633