Param Veers Sports Complex Ground 1 (United States won toss): United States beat Bermuda by 204 runs

Bermuda endured their first loss at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Americas Qualifier when they went down to the United States in Rydal, Georgia, yesterday.

Chasing 311 for victory, Bermuda could not withstand the American spin attack, as they folded for 106 in 32.2 overs. With Sabrish Prasad (four for 37), Adit Kappa (three for 34) and Sahir Bhatia (two for nine) doing most of the damage with the ball, No 6 batter Sa-Qui Robinson led the resistance with 34 off 42 balls, while Callum MacFarlane contributed 22 at the top of the order.

Powered by 102 from Amrinder Singh Gill, 70 by fellow opener Sahil Garg and Saharsh Shwethan’s 58-ball 69, the US posted 310 for nine, a total that proved to be far beyond Bermuda’s reach. Keegan Jones and Isaiah O’Brien tried their best to peg back the opponents with two wickets each.

The second win of the qualifier lifted the host nation to the top of the standings, while Bermuda slipped to third behind Canada.

Heading into their second match of the tournament on top of the four-team standings on net run-rate after a thumping 237-run victory over Argentina the day before, the Bermudian bowlers were fired up.

Luke Horan and Robinson kept things tidy as they bowled in tandem for the opening ten overs. Just to show how good the Bermudian bowlers were up front, the first US boundary came only in the fifth over when Gill drove Horan down the ground.

After negotiating the opening overs, Gill and Garg started to free up their arms. In his fifth over, Robinson had Gill dropped on 21 by captain Zeri Tomlinson.

Jones produced a gem of a ball at the end of his third over to knock over Garg's leg stump. MacFarlane did not allow Utkarsh Srivastava, the new batter, time to settle as he had him caught behind for four.

A direct hit from Horan had Adnit Jhamb run out. Jones shortly got a leg-before decision against Arjun Mahesh to pick up his second.

While wickets kept falling on the other end, Gill made use of the early life offered to him by reaching his hundred, the first by any batter in the tournament. It took something special to get rid of the opener, as Robinson came up with an exceptional catch after the right-hander pulled the ball off Jahmi Douglas’s bowling.

Shwethan took firm control of proceedings in the back end of the US innings, with a six and a boundary off O’Brien taking the Americans past the 300-run mark. Horan halted the late charge by removing Shwethan at the start of the last over.

Needing 6.22 runs an over, Bermuda struggled to build partnerships from the onset. The opening stand between MacFarlane and O’Brien yielded only 19 runs before it was breached in the fifth over when the latter, who looked settled at the crease, lofted a ball from Shiv Shani for Srivastava to complete his dismissal.

Jones was dismissed in bizarre fashion when he stepped on his own stumps while facing up to Kappa. The same bowler also had Tomlinson caught and bowled in his next over.

Horan departed without contributing much to the cause. MacFarlane, who had stood firm while wickets were tumbling on the other end, also went before the job was done.

Luke Fulton could not replicate the 74 he compiled the previous day as he fell for a 34-ball 20. Robinson hit Kappa for a six and a four in the left-arm spinner’s last over to take Bermuda past the 100-run mark.

Bermuda’s leading run-getter on the day was dropped on 33 by Shwethan, but did not make that count when he was castled by Prasad at the start of 32nd over. Robinson’s dismissal marked the end of any hopes of getting closer to the target, as Keyan Webb and Xavien James followed in quick succession.