Cann guides Bermuda home
Bermuda, 99 for seven, beat Argentina, 93 for eight, by three wicketsLionel Cann hit an unbeaten half century to save Bermuda's blushes yesterday in their opening ICC Americas T20 tournament in Florida as they beat Argentina by three wickets.Cann scored 55 off 42 balls, which included the six that took his team to victory with just three balls to spare.The St David's batsman was the only Bermuda player to reach double-figures in a low scoring game that David Moore's team made harder than it should have been.“We are going to review some of the things we didn't execute today and make sure that we are a little bit more prepared in those areas and obviously improve on the things that we did well,” said Moore. “We have to stay relaxed and composed when we are out there and things aren't going our way, but overall it was a good game.Chasing 94 to win, Bermuda slumped to 22 for three, with David Hemp (two), Fiqre Crockwell (five) and Kamau Leverock (four) all departing cheaply.Crockwell once again managed to run himself out when batting for Bermuda, and his departure saw the rest of the team revert to type as the singles dried up.“Some of the things that we have been working on for so long, we went back to default mode unfortunately and that was that,” said Moore.“Fiqre hammered the ball to mid-on, there was a yes/no miss-field, and that was that. The issue was that we've pushing for those sort of runs in practice...but then what also happened was that they (the rest of the team) started balking at runs.”Argentina skipper Esteban MacDermott led his side's bowling attack, taking three wickets for just nine runs, and when Rodney Trott became his third victim, Bermuda were wobbling at 65 for six.In the end it fell to Cann to see his team home, which he did in the final over, spanking spinner Donald Forrester for two sixes back down the ground.Moore praised Cann's ‘measured innings' that saw the opener keep his head as wickets fell at the other end.Bermuda's batting was in stark contrast to a bowling performance that saw Malachi Jones produced the kind of devastating opening spell he is capable of, but has rarely produced in recent years.Jones took three wickets for 10 runs in his four overs, and also ran out Gary Savage, who led the Argentina batting with 38 from 46 balls.Next up for Bermuda is Suriname today, who got swept aside by USA in their opening fixture.Moore's side will be favourites heading into the match, although he insists they won't be taking Suriname lightly.“Anyone can win a T20 game because anything can happen, what we need to do now is focus on what lies ahead,” he said.“We aren't taking anyone lightly. Some of us watched Suriname play and although they got beaten soundly they are a team that can cause problems. You can never take any of these teams for granted.“You never want to have any of these growing pains, but we have to learn how to win when we don't play well.“The bottom line is, if you learn how to win a game when you play poorly then it bodes well for you going forward...as long as the team learn from their mistakes.”