January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Hemp tops BDA scoring charts
Hemp tops BDA scoring charts
Hemp, who has done more than anyone to keep Bermuda clinging to life in this competition, batted through the innings twice in succession, scoring 76 not out against Denmark and then 102 not out against Kenya.
His century against the Africans on Monday was his first in one-day-internationals and the highest ODI score by a Bermuda player.
But he said the personal milestones meant very little if the team lost.
And he targeted another improved all round performance from Bermuda against the Dutch.
"It's obviously nice from a personal point of view to get the hundred.
"But it pales into insignificance when you end up losing the game."
Never a man to show much emotion, Hemp was all business after his fifty against Denmark on Saturday, barely raising his bat to celebrate the milestone.
He didn't even acknowledge his half-century on Monday waiting until he reached a hundred in the final over of the day to raise his bat to the balcony before being engulfed in a bear hug by skipper Irving Romaine.
And his post-match comments reflected a similar sense of focus. There will be no real celebration from Hemp while the job is half done.
"I'm delighted to get a score and maybe when I reflect on it later I will take pleasure from it but as I said I can't really dwell on it - we have another game to play."
The previous highest score for Bermuda in an ODI and the only other century was Irving Romaine's 101 against Canada in 2006. Hemp's 76 not out against India in the World Cup is the fourth highest score while Romaine has five of the top ten.
Only scores against the one-day-international nations - officially the best 16 teams in the world - are recorded in the stats so Hemp's half-century against Denmark is not on the list.
Hemp has been a revelation since converting to the opener's role, playing some of his best cricket in a Bermuda shirt. His innings' have been characterized by pure determination - a sense that as the professional in this team he has to be the man to pull them back from the brink.
After the experiment with big hitting Lionel Cann at the top of the order alongside Jekon Edness was jettisoned he has formed a more conventional opening partnership with rising youngster Fiqre Crockwell.
They put on 82 for the first wicket against the Danes and managed a century opening partnership against Kenya.
The scoring rate has been modest but in the context of recent collapses it has made sense.
Hemp said the tactic was for him to bat through the innings and ensure Bermuda did not get bowled out for a low total, as occurred in the games against UAE and Afghanistan.
"We were delighted with 260 against Kenya but the wicket got better to bat on and looking back we could probably have done with 20 or 30 more but if you set your sights too big you can end up getting bowled out for 150, 180 as we have seen."
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