Trott hits stylish 72 to lead Island to victory
Rodney Trott hammered a stroke-filled, unbeaten half-century that anchored Bermuda's Under-19s to an uplifting five-wicket win over Queen's Park CC at the famous Queen's Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad yesterday.
Trott, fresh off a successful tour of Kenya and Dubai last month with the senior national squad, clubbed a polished 72 off 96 balls as Bermuda, chasing 140 for victory, reached their winning target with 17 balls to spare.
Trott again proved to be the backbone of his team's innings as he shared in two pivotal stands that swung the momentum back in Bermuda's favour after they had slipped to 50 for three.
The St. George's all-rounder added a vital 30 for the fourth wicket with wicketkeeper Regino Smith (15) and another 47 for the fifth with middle-order bat Stefan Kelly (14 ) that powered the Islanders to the brink of victory.
Trott carved eight fours and decorated the scoreboard with an attractive array of strokeplay that drew rave reviews from national coach Gus Logie and praise from those gathered at the ground.
Fittingly, it was Trott who dispatched the winning boundary to the fence, a glorious cover drive that punctuated another fine innings by a player possessing enormous promise belying his still tender years.
"Rodney is really batting well at the moment and we are all impressed with his batting," said Under-19 assistant coach Andre Manders.
Manders is also pleased to see his team beginning to value their wickets and bat more responsibly in the middle.
"The players are running between the wickets good and beginning to build partnerships, which is something I think brought us through today," he added. "The guys are very confident and pleased with their performance today." If there was a downside to Bermuda's win, then it had to be the costly 40 runs they surrendered in extras due largely to some wayward bowling.
"We did some good things today but also a few bad things such as giving up too many wides. We have to try and minimise giving up extras and also work on our bowling a bit," Manders said. "But overall the batting and fielding has been good while Rodney has batted really well."
Earlier, Queen's Park CC recovered from a precarious 60 for four to post a respectable 139 before eventually being dismissed in the 32nd over of the rain shortened match. Bermuda had their opponents in all sorts of trouble before the first of two rain stoppages sent the players scurrying off the pitch for shelter.
But a timely middle order revival combined with loose bowling enabled the home team to post a decent total after Bermuda had made early inroads with the new ball.
Cleveland off spinner Tamauri Tucker, who also recently toured Africa with the senior national team, took three for 38 to lead the tourist's attack, while seamers Kelly (two for ten) and Kyle Hodsoll (two for six) also enjoyed success with the ball.
Bermuda face Clico Preysal in their next match on Thursday.