Global Game: USA, Canada scamper to T20 World Cup global qualifiers

With the top three Associates in the region joined by a quartet of underdogs in Argentina, Bahamas, Belize and Panama, qualification looked likely to depend on results between them, and so it proved as the USA finished unbeaten and Canada dropped just the one game.

Getting underway on the 7th of November in Antigua, the USA and Canada both laid out early markers as they ran up heavy victories over Belize and the Bahamas respectively in the morning games. At Coolidge Cricket Ground, the Americans inserted Belize and proved too much for their batting lineup. Rusty Theron grabbed 3/16, while Ian Holland was nigh-unplayable with 2/4 in his 4 overs and the Belizeans could manage only 64/9 in 20 overs. Steven Taylor’s brutal 39* (15) ensured that the USA polished off the target inside 5 overs. A little to the South at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, and Canada made short work of the Bahamas, who were making their official men’s T20I debut.

Sent in to bat at the toss, Canada’s top order took advantage of the workout with contributions from Rayyan Pathan (38 off 27), Ravi Singh (47 off 34) and Hamza Tariq (54* off 28) as they cruised to 190/5. Opening seamer Roderick Mitchell (2/24 off 4) and off-spinner Jagnauth Jagroo (3/24 off 4) both bowled effective spells but no other bowler had any control. In the response, Bahamian opener Marc Taylor, who had last played in Antigua 13 years ago in the Stanford Super Series, fought hard with 44 (36), but no other batter reached double figures as they were dismissed for just 68 in the 16th over. Jatinderpal Matharu was the pick of the Canadian bowlers with 3/6 in just 2 overs. In the afternoon game at Coolidge, the USA steamrolled Panama, with the Central Americans kept to 85/8 in their 20 before Xavier Marshall led the chase with 47* (35) to cruise home in the 10th over.

Canada started the day at Coolidge by dominating Belize after they opted to bat, racking up 234/3 in their 20 overs with skipper Navneet Dhaliwal top-scoring with 69* (36). The response from Belize was limp as they struggled to 89/6 in their allotment, thanks largely to Kenton Young’s 42 (46). Meanwhile, the Bahamas overcame the more experienced Argentina by 12 runs at North Sound, with Marc Taylor again in the runs. He posted 60 (37), including 6 sixes, to carry his side to 121. Tomas Rossi was the pick of the bowlers with 3/19. Argentina opener Pedro Barón hit 66* (61) in the response, but his colleagues let him down as Argentina miscalculated their chase and finished at 109/5 in their 20 overs. The Coolidge afternoon game was another 12-run affair, as Belize proved too good for Panama. Bernan Stephenson was the star of the show, as he struck 69 (47) to carry Belize to 143/8 in their 20 before he grabbed 3/25 in his 3 overs to help restrict Panama to 131/8. Over at North Sound, it was the USA who came out on top by 23 runs in the crucial clash against Bermuda, as the Bermudians squandered a good position. Opting to bat first, the USA posted 172 in 19.4 overs, as Kamau Leverock’s 4/28 (3.4 overs) helped peg them back somewhat from being 99/2 in the 11th over; Aaron Jones top-scored for the USA with 50 (33). In the chase, Tre Manders (49 off 37) and Delray Rawlins (45 off 28) had started to accelerate, and looked threatening with the score of 111/3 in 13 overs, but when they were both dismissed within an over of each other the rest of the batters couldn’t keep up the momentum and the chase fizzled out to 149/8.

After a rest day on the 9th, Tuesday, action resumed in the morning on Wednesday at North Sound with a comprehensive win to Argentina over Belize, as veteran keeper Alejandro Ferguson struck a confident 86* (60) to carry the South Americans to 171/4 off their 20; in the response, seamer Hernan Fennel grabbed 3/20 to dismiss Belize for 112 in the 19th over. In the other morning game at Coolidge, Bermuda crushed the Bahamas by 140 runs, posting 239/6 thanks to Tre Manders’ 84 (52) and a late boost from Delray Rawlins (50 off 20), before restricting the Bahamas to just 99/8 in their 20. In the afternoon North Sound game, Argentina made it 2 from 2 as they downed Panama by 45 runs. Ramiro Escobar led the way with 55 (45) as they reached 156/6 in their 20 overs before Hernan Fennel ran riot with 6/18 - his first 5 wicket haul, and Argentina’s first hattrick in men’s T20Is. Panama could only manage 111/9 in their 20. The Coolidge afternoon match was significantly more dramatic, with a tie between the USA and Canada off a chaotic last ball, followed by a Super Over win to the Americans. Opting to bat at the toss, Canada posted a middling total of 142/5, with Navneet Dhaliwal and Ravi Singh both reaching 44 (37), while Ian Holland was the pick of the bowlers with 2/25 in his 4. In the response, the USA was carried by contributions from Ian Holland (25 off 24), Jaskaran Malhotra (35 off 25) and Karima Gore (31 off 15), but left-arm orthodox Salman Nazar scalped 3/19 to peg back regular wickets; needing 12 to win off the last over, Karima Gore hit a 6 and the batters scrambled to leave the equation at 3 required from the final ball. Ali Khan missed his swing, and Rusty Theron charged up the pitch for the bye. Canadian keeper Hamza Tariq, thinking the match was over, whipped off the bails and joined his teammates to celebrate. But Theron (adjudged not-out) immediately turned and ran back, tying the game while the distracted Canadians were charging all over the field. It was a stunning turn of events as the Canadians realised their mistake, and all the momentum in the Super Over was with the USA, who smashed 22 runs to Canada’s 14.

Bitterly disappointed with the result, Canada’s match on Thursday morning against Bermuda at Coolidge had turned into a virtual knockout. After they chose to bowl first, Bermuda kept a lid on the run rate early and looked like keeping them to a gettable score when Saad bin Zafar was dismissed in the 14th over at 98/5. But Harsh Thaker (28* off 14) and Hamza Tariq (63* off 48) combined for an unbeaten 89-run stand in just 6 overs, and some wayward death bowling allowed the score to balloon to 187/5 in 20. Tidy spells from Salman Nazar (2/17 off 3) and Harsh Thaker (0/17 off 4) ensured that the Bermuda chase never got going and they managed only 141/7. Meanwhile, at North Sound, the Bahamas edged out Belize by 11 runs. Marc Taylor’s good form continued for the Bahamas, posting 67 (50) to carry them to 150/8, then they held their nerve against Maurice Castillo’s 59 (49) to keep the Belizeans to 139/6. In the afternoon at Coolidge Bermuda appeared to take their frustration out on Panama, with Kamau Leverock (54 off 31) leading the way as they pumped 181/6 in their 20 then strangled the Panamanian batting to 95/8. The USA made short work of Argentina over at North Sound, restricting them to 90/7 then polishing off the chase in the 14th over (debutant Gajanand Singh hitting 50* off 38).

Friday was another rest day, then Saturday morning at Coolidge saw the Bahamas overwhelmed by the USA, as Nisarg Patel bamboozled them with 4/17 in his 4 overs to keep the score to 90/7. The Americans cruised the chase in just 12.1 overs. Meanwhile, at North Sound, Bermuda thrashed Belize, with veteran seamer Rodney Trott scalping 4/15 in his 4 to help dismiss them for 85, before Allan Douglas blasted 54 (25) to reach the target in just 8 overs. The afternoon game at Coolidge was another defeat for the Bahamas, who became Panama’s first scalp of the tournament, thanks to an all-round effort from Irfan Hafajee. With the bat, his composed 41 (39) took Panama to 139/8 in their 20, then in 3.3 overs of seam bowling, he grabbed 3/26 to derail the Bahamian chase as they were bundled out for 113 in the 19th over. Canada meanwhile trounced Argentina at North Sound, with Dilon Heyliger (5/16 off 4) grabbing the first 5-wicket haul for a Canadian bowler in men’s T20Is to help bowl them out for 109 in 18 overs. Rayyan Pathan’s brutal 56* (24) ensured a quick chase as Canada reached a victory in 9.1 overs.

The last day’s play on Sunday saw records tumble for Canada, as they pummelled Panama by 208 runs at Coolidge - the second-highest margin of victory in men’s T20Is. Rayyan Pathan ended his successful tournament with a century (107* off 62), while Navneet Dhaliwal (65 off 36) and Hamza Tariq (55* off 25) chipped in to lift the score to 245/1. Then left-arm orthodox duo Salman Nazar (3/8 off 4) and Saad bin Zafar (2/0 with an amazing 4 maidens in 4 overs) bundled out the Panamanians for just 37. In the afternoon match, Argentina gave Bermuda a fright after they posted 130/5 in their 20 and Agustin Husain’s 3/8 in 4 overs took the match to the final over with just 3 wickets in hand before Dion Stovell and Rodney Trott got them over the line.

Global Game is a collaboration between the ICC andEmerging Cricket.