Jersey cruises to nine-wicket win on day two
Jersey batting duo Mathew Hague and Dean Morrison made up for the side's first-day loss in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 5 (WCL Div. 5) by securing a nine-wicket win over Fiji today in Nepal.
The game, which was broadcast live on local Nepalese television at Tribhuvan University ground, saw Jersey ease its way past a Fiji side that was all out for 120 in 36.2 overs.
Hague and Morrison both made quick-fire half-centuries with the 31-year-old Morrison reaching his with eight fours and one six in 53 balls. Meanwhile man of the match Hague stuck it out to the conclusion of the game and was helped by Peter Gough to secure the Channel Island's victory.
In Fiji's innings, Jersey's Ben Stevens took 2-11 while the top scorers were Sekove Ravoka, Tikovanualevu Kida and veteran player Iniasi Cakacaka each making 25.
Hague, who recently came out of retirement, said: "It was an important game for us to win. The first thing we have to do is get a couple of wins under our belt and ensure that we do stay in Division 5. It was a much needed win to beat Fiji as we couldn't afford to have two losses.
"I didn't have a great game yesterday. Cricket is a bit of a mental game so it is nice to get some runs on the board and start feeling confident again."
Looking ahead to Tuesday's match against USA, Hague admitted it wouldn't be easy. He said: "The game against the USA should be a good match, as they are pretty strong, but our win today will give us a lot of confidence."
Meanwhile, Fiji coach Steve Jenkin reflected on his side's second loss of the tournament: "It's a bit early for in-depth reflections but we were set up to score 250 plus and unfortunately we weren't patient enough to get those runs and lost wickets too quickly.
"Our guys want to hit every ball ? they aren't showing the patience to stay there. We need to change that approach in our future games.
"We bowled poorly and we didn't do anything that we should have done. We need to get six of our guys fit again, after being sick, but we will talk about what went on here, and try and put things right."
Elsewhere, host Nepal took on WCL Div.6 winner Singapore in front of a crowd of more than 2,500 high-spirited home fans who had flocked to the University Ground.
Paras Khadka, who seems born to lead having previously captained Nepal at under-19 level, guiding them to victory in the 2008 Plate Competition with wins over a series of higher ranked teams along the way, saw his men come out winners for the second day in a row, this time by just 16 runs over a spirited Singapore outfit.
Talented all-rounder Basanta Regmi put in a shining all-round performance for the Nepalese with a hard-fought 54 runs and bowling figures of 2-33. Basanta wasn't the only Regmi to take wickets today, however, as Sanjam ? who is no relation ? took 4-28.
Former Singapore under-19 batsman Anish Param put in a solid effort with the bat to make 41 runs but the side failed to fire when it really mattered.
Man of the match Basanta said: "I think the most important thing is that the team won today and that I was a part of that team. It's always nice to be recognised but the team's efforts are more important than my own.
Looking ahead to facing Bahrain, the former Nepal under-17 and under-19 player said: "We are pretty confident but we can't be complacent against Bahrain. They may have lost two matches but there is every chance they can make a comeback so we must be prepared for Tuesday."
Meanwhile, Singapore captain Munish Arora summed up his disappointment: "I really felt we fielded and bowled well today but our batting let us down. We got out cheaply and we failed to rotate the strike to the standard I would have liked. We'll have a look at it tomorrow and hopefully by Tuesday's game we'll perform better."
In the final fixture of the day, the USA's Lennox Cush shone for the Americans as the side beat Bahrain by 19 runs at the Army Ground.
The all-rounder smashed 11 fours and two sixes in making his 91 for the side, which is the highest individual innings score of the tournament so far. Cush's captain Steve Massiah also added to the USA's total with a gritty 67 runs off 92 balls.
Man of the match Cush said: "It was a match-winning innings and I was well supported by the other players. We got off to a bad start today and my innings came at a good time.
"We want to make sure we stay on top of our game. If we play cricket to the best of our ability then I don't think that anybody can beat us. We have to make sure that we don't get complacent."
Losing coach of Bahrain Mohsin Kamal said: "We still have another three matches and a 50-50 chance of qualifying. The USA has already won two matches and we don't mind if they win all their matches. We just need to win our last three matches and we will try our best."
