Jimmy Powell Oval (Bermuda won toss): USA beat Bermuda by ten wickets

Bermuda’s batters and bowlers were blown away by the United States in their third North American Cup match in Cayman on Monday.

Bermuda were bowled out for just 70 runs in 16.3 overs, with their middle to lower order again failing to contribute and their last six wickets falling for just 21 runs.

Only Alex Dore, Jarryd Richardson and Delray Rawlins made it into double figures with three batters scoring a duck.

US bowler Ali Sheikh took five wickets for 15 runs in three overs, with Yasir Muhammad taking four for 11, including three wickets in four balls, from 3.3 overs.

It took just 5.4 overs for the United States to rattle up a winning score without losing a wicket. Opening batter Saiteja Mukkamalla hit 50, off just 23 deliveries, with Shayan Jahangir contributing 16.

With victory, the United States maintained their unbeaten record and Bermuda need to beat Bahamas in their final group game to ensure their place in the semi-finals this weekend.

Bermuda captain Terryn Fray was clearly disappointed after the United States match and attempted to convey his feelings to The Royal Gazette.

“That was not easy and you can see that USA are definitely a level above the rest,” Fray said.

“That’s why you play cricket, to see where you are, and obviously we have a lot of work to do if we are even going to come close to that. It was challenging but it’s a learning experience and we have to be grateful that we don’t have to qualify against them in June.”

Fray also feels that the side needs to sharpen up mentally if they are to compete at the highest level.

“It’s a tough loss and nobody likes to lose by that much but the response needs to be better,” he said.

“If I’m being honest, once we got into a little hole with our batting a lot of our guys mentally just collapsed and that’s a part of our game that needs addressing. There is no excuse for how the performance went. They are a good team but mentally we folded as a team.

“If we want to play at this level, even occasionally, we have to be mentally and physically ready and at this point we have a lot of work to do. Hopefully mindsets change and we can do better in June.”

Bermuda named an unchanged line-up after victory against the Cayman Islands on Sunday and Fray chose to bat after again winning the toss.

Alex Dore was given his third start at the top of the order alongside Fray and both men started slowly but were helped by a number of wides in the first couple of overs from US bowlers Saurabh Netravalkar and Kumar.

But whereas Fray had been the mainstay of the Bermuda innings for the first two games, his wicket was the first to fall here after he was stumped by wicketkeeper Shayan Jahangir off the bowling of Kumar for five.

While Dore and No 3 Richardson made steady progress, Bermuda were helped by continued wayward bowling, with the US conceding 11 extras, including eight wides, in the opening seven overs.

Richardson made it to ten before being caught and bowled by Sheikh, bringing former captain Delray Rawlins to the crease for the first time in the tournament without Fray occupying the other end.

Rawlins, who walked out with the score at 38 for two, had scored a couple of runs before Dore was bowled by Sheikh for 16, from 24 deliveries. His departure brought Dominic Sabir, player of the match against Cayman, to the wicket.

But he was unable to replicate his exploits with the bat a day earlier, becoming Sheikh’s third victim when caught by Sanjay Krishnamurthi for just two to leave Bermuda struggling at 49 for four at the halfway stage of their innings.

New batter Allan Douglas Jr did not last long, caught and bowled by Yasir Muhammad for three, as the national side’s middle order again started to perform an all too familiar collapse.

Derrick Brangman and Sinclair Smith came and went without troubling the scorer as Bermuda lost four wickets for five runs, going from 49 for four to 53 for seven.

With wickets tumbling around him, Rawlins attempted to increase the pace of scoring, perhaps fearing there was not long left in the innings. He moved on to 18 with a couple of boundaries before becoming another victim of Sheikh.

Zeko Burgess became the third Bermuda batter out for a duck to give Sheikh his fifth wicket of the innings, with Jermal Proctor the last wicket to fall with the scoreboard showing 70 runs in 16.3 overs.

The US wasted no time in chasing their target with Rawlins’s opening over going for 16 and Burgess’s struck for eight.

Mukkamalla hit eight fours and two sixes on the way to his half century, with every one of the four Bermuda bowlers used coming in for heavy treatment.