LAUDERHILL, Florida, CMC – Bermuda notched up their second win but almost came unstuck in a rain-hit match before beating Suriname by eight runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method in an ICC Americas Region Division One Twenty20 Championship match here on Tuesday.
Spurred by half-centuries from veteran openers Lionel Cann and skipper David Hemp, Bermuda rattled up 160 for four – the highest total of the tournament so far.
Cann struck a blistering 63 from 35 balls – his second half-century in a row – while Hemp hit a brisk 50 in an opening stand of 93.
Rain left Suriname with a revised target of 50 from five overs and they gave Bermuda a fright, reaching 41 for three despite two wickets in two balls for pace bowler George O’Brien, after taking 17 off Rodney Trott’s penultimate over.
“It was a tough situation,” said Bermuda’s national coach David Moore.
“We didn’t think we were going to play. At one time we thought it the game was off. So, it was very difficult to remain focused, then to do it, and get it on, and win the game was outstanding. It was really good.”
The Cayman Islands lost again, crashing to a seven-wicket defeat against unbeaten United States, who won the inaugural championship in Bermuda last year.
Jamaica-born Timroy Allen did the damage, claiming four for eight as the Caymans were bundled out for 72.
Aditya Mishra led the US reply with an unbeaten 28.Canada also made it two wins from two matches as they beat Argentina by nine wickets with five balls to spare in a gamer reduced to eight overs a side Jimmy Hansra scoring 30 not out in Canada’s pursuit of Argentina’s 54.
The top two teams, excluding Canada, will move on to the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the United Arab Emirates. Canada automatically qualify because of their current status as an ODI nation.
The Florida tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Toronto but was moved because the venues in Canada became unavailable after the tournament was originally assigned.
