Cayman finishes second after defeat to Bermuda

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 5 March 2018

Darren Cato plays a defensive stroke in the loss to Bermuda.

A four-wicket defeat at the hands of Bermuda in the final match of the ICC World T20 Americas Sub Regional Qualifiers on Saturday, 3 March, saw Cayman Islands finish second in the table.

Cayman Islands won the toss and elected to bat. A 21-ball 26 from captain Ramon Sealy and some assistance from Alistair Ifill (19) and Chad Hauptsfliech (18) helped them post 134 for seven in 20 overs. Janeiro Tucker and Cejay Outerbridge picked up two wickets each for Bermuda.

Chasing 135 for victory, Bermuda got off to a good start courtesy a 21-ball 20 by wicket-keeper/batman Okera Bascome but were reduced to 48 for three by the eighth over. Thereafter, a 50-run partnership between Kamau Leverock (31) and Tucker (18) revived Bermuda’s innings and took the total to 98 before Leverock was dismissed lbw by Alessandro Morris.

Tucker departed in the very next over, bowled by Corey Cato, to leave Bermuda in a spot of bother at 98 for five, still needing 37 runs from the final three overs.

Cayman Islands had a firm grip on the game when Temiko Wilson was dismissed on the first ball of the last over from Conroy Wright, leaving Bermuda to get 17 runs off the last five balls. But S. Brener played a match-winning hand, helping his team score 19 runs off the next four deliveries and reach the target with one ball to spare. He scored his 26 runs from 14 deliveries.

Conroy Wright and Adrian Wright picked up two wickets each for Cayman Islands.

Sealy spoke to CaymanSportsBuzz.com about the game: “I don’t think we got as many runs as we would have liked but the 135 that we put on the board, I felt that we should have been able to defend it…that’s just cricket, it can change in one over.”

With the win, Bermuda made it three wins in four matches in the tournament and sit atop the points table with nine points. Cayman Islands also have nine points but lag behind Bermuda on net run rate. Both sides have advanced to the Americas Regional Finals in 2019, the next stage of qualifying for the ICC World T20 2020 in Australia.

Alessandro Morris was named Bowler of the Tournament.

“It has been a great tournament for us as a team. We didn’t finish where we should have finished,” Sealy said. “In my opinion, we were the most all-round and best team here. I don’t think we capitalised on the games against Argentina as much as Bermuda did and that ended up costing us in the end,” said Sealy, who was named Fielder of the Tournament.

Vice-captain Alessandro Morris, who took eight wickets in four matches, was named Bowler of the Tournament.

“As a whole, the team looked good in the field; we had good performances with the bat and ball. So, I’m happy with the performance. Hopefully, we can continue moving forward when we play in the next qualifiers,” Sealy said.