Manders warns Bermuda bowlers to bring their A-game

Arnold Manders was a satisfied coach last night but warned his team: today is our toughest test.

Bermuda take on Cayman Islands and tournament favourites USA in a Florida double-header on the back of an impressive start to their ICC Americas Division 1 Twenty20 campaign.

A top-two place secures a spot at the next stage of the Twenty20 Worlds Cup qualifiers in Dubai in October and opening wins over Bahamas and Suriname have left the team in good shape.

Spinner Rodney Trott and paceman Malachi Jones put Suriname to the sword and will be key figures against a formidable USA side.

Manders told the Bermuda Sun: “I haven’t had the chance to watch Cayman but we watched the USA play.

“They look pretty decent. They have a lot of all-rounders and are going to come at us hard, our bowlers have to make sure they are on their A-game, but they are more than up to the challenge.”

Bermuda’s Janeiro Tucker, man of the match against Suriname, took a knock on his hand during the game but is expected to play, while Jason Anderson is laid low with a bug and is a major doubt for today’s two matches.

Manders believes the schedule has allowed his team to get into their stride nicely but insisted there is plenty of work to do.

He said: “The games seem to have fallen well for us — but we have two tough games tomorrow.

“We’re pretty confident about what we can achieve in the tournament [after our start] but we can’t underestimate anyone – we have to cross the t’s and dot the i’s and just focus on our next game.”

Before Bermuda’s win over Suriname (see back page), they disposed of Bahamas in a ruthless 127-run win.

Chasing 193 to win, Bahamas collapsed to 32 for six after 11 overs and were eventually all out for a dismal 65.

The wickets were shared among the Bermudian bowlers with Jones the pick, taking three for six off his three overs.

Greg Maybury (two for 19 off four), Janeiro Tucker (two for seven off three) and Jacobi Robinson (two for 10 off four) also kept a tight rein on the batsmen.

Bermuda produced a strong batting performance  after captain Stephen Outerbridge was out first ball. David Hemp made 66 off 54 balls, while Stovell racked up 77 from 56.