St George's College Ground, Buenos Aires (Brazil won toss): Bermuda (2pts) beat Brazil (0) by 87 runs

A well-played half-century from Tre Manders and continued fine bowling by the spinners paved the way for Bermuda’s fourth straight win at the ICC T20 World Cup Americas Sub-Regional Qualifier in Argentina.

Manders, who was dropped twice, made sure that he punished the Brazilian fielders by reaching 52, from 45 balls, for his fifth T20 international fifty and the first by a Bermudian batter in the tournament, as Bermuda made 149 for four in 20 overs.

Superb bowling by player of the match Dominic Sabir, who claimed a career-best three for 16, aided by left-armers Derrick Brangman (two for seven) and Kevon Fubler (two for 11), resulted in Brazil being dismissed for 62 in 17.3 overs as Bermuda tightened their stranglehold on the tournament.

Sabir, who also shared a crucial partnership with Stovell, felt that Manders deserved the accolade as the game’s best player.

“The man of the match came as a surprise for me,’’ Sabir told The Royal Gazette.

“Tre had a tremendous knock and he got the first 50 for our team, so I definitely thought it would have been him.

“I enjoy batting a lot more than I enjoy bowling, but coming in at No 6 is a bit scary and I don’t think I’m going to get many chances to bat because we have such a strong team.

“I definitely feel a lot more comfortable in the middle order. I opened as well as it’s just something that the coaches were trying, but it’s working out with me batting in the middle order and finishing with Dion, so I’m having a good time.”

Captain Terryn Fray applauded Manders for applying himself on a track that was tricky to bat on.

“That was a great performance by Tre, as to bat on that surface was very difficult, so hats off to him for batting through the innings,” he said.

“Then, of course, Dominic and Dion batted really well in the middle order.”

After losing the toss and being put in to bat, Bermuda's innings did not get off to an ideal start when Fray was caught off the bowling of Yasar Haroon’s in the third over,

Manders was joined in the middle by Alex Dore, the second-highest run scorer for Bermuda with an edgy 30 runs, and the two put on 71 for the second wicket with the help of some generous Brazilian fielding.

Brazil could have dismissed Manders for 13 in the eighth over had Richard Avery been sharper in the slips, with the same player also putting down a catch off his own bowling when Manders was on 29.

Onias Bascome could not find the form he displayed when scoring 37 against Mexico a day earlier, being bowled for eight before Stovell stepped up with a fluent 28, with his and Sabir’s 40-run stand giving Bermuda extra assurance.

Brangman opened the bowling alongside Jermal Proctor and found the breakthrough with the fourth ball of his second over to dismiss William Maximo.

Confusion between Morais and Greigor Caisley resulted in the former then being run out before Stovell bowled Caisley in his first over to finish with a wicket maiden.

Sabir got the first of his three wickets when he induced Haroon into a leading edge for a caught and bowled and shortly after the drinks break he knocked over the stumps to bowl Kawsar Khan.

Brangman came back in the twelfth over to remove Luiz Muller, the only remaining batter who carried Brazil’s hopes of a decent total.

After Proctor took the only wicket picked up by a seamer and Sabir claimed his third victim, Fubler got in on the act. The left-arm spinner accelerated Brazil’s downfall with two late wickets in his 3.3 overs to take his tournament tally to nine.

Bermuda will be searching for a fifth victory this afternoon when they square off with Belize, who have won just one of their four matches.

Fray is looking for the ruthlessness that has been displayed in the previous matches, as the tournament nears its business end.

“We stressed that there should be no complacency on this side,” the captain said. “We had a little bit of that when we played Mexico, but I think the guys are still performing really well.

“We’ll go back and prepare ourselves just as normal. It’s another afternoon game, so we’ll have some time to rest.”