Fine individual performances from Saurabh Natravalkar (4/45) and Jaskaran Malhotra (70 off 105) were not enough for Team USA, as they lost their final group match against Jamaica Scorpions by 80 runs at Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua to conclude their campaign with a solitary win from 8 matches.
Jamaica Scorpions posted 259/8 in their 50 overs, batting first, the innings built around the knocks by Trevon Griffith (80 off 102), Steven Taylor (40 off 50) and Fabian Allen (62 n.o off 56). Jamaica were in a spot of bother when triple strikes within 14 deliveries between overs 30.5 and 33.1 reduced them to 155/5, but recovered with Allen’s innings and a 56-runs partnership for the 6th wicket with Alwyn Williams (20 off 30).
Prashanth Nair picked up 2/16 in good returns while Nosthush Kenjige and Roy Silva picking up a wicket apiece for USA.
The batting line-up for USA struggled and barring the 54-runs partnership for the 3rd wicket between Jaskaran and Ibrahim Khaleel (29 off 61), the rest of the batsmen could not contribute much as they managed to reach 179/9 in their 50 overs.
Christopher Lamont (2/17), Andre McCarthy (2/33) and Odean Smith (2/39) picked up a brace while Peat Salmon and Fabian Allen accounted for one wicket apiece for Jamaica Scorpions.
In what has been a good learning curve ahead of ICC tournaments in 2018 (WorldT20 Qualifiers and WCL Division 3), Head coach Pubudu Dassanayeke will be pleased with individual performances put in by the players during the tenure of the tournament with bowling being the stronger suite for team USA.
