Photo credit: Peter Della Penna

USA U19 went to 2-0 at the 2019 ICC Americas U19 World Cup Qualifier in Canada after thrashing Bermuda U19 by nine wickets behind a merciless bowling effort.

By Peter Della Penna in King City (Twitter @PeterDellaPenna)
 
California legspinner Shashank Vittaladevaram claimed 3 for 13 in eight overs to go along with two catches in a Man of the Match performance as USA U19 bowled Bermuda U19 out for 71 in 30 overs before needing 9.3 overs to chase the target in a nine-wicket win on day two of the 2019 ICC Americas U19 World Cup Qualifier at Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King City, Ontario.
 
Vittaladevaram helped spark a hasty slide for the Bermuda tail as the islanders lost their last five wickets for just 10 runs. It was another commanding team bowling performance as medium pacers and spinners took five wickets apiece after captain Joshua Kind sent Bermuda in after winning the toss.
 
Abhiram Valisammagari got things going for USA in the field, making the first pair of breakthroughs on the day. The right-arm medium pacer struck in his second over, having Jaiden Manders caught at first slip by Aman Patel to make it 12 for 1. He trapped Tai Cariah in his following over with a searing yorker on the toes for a third-ball duck.
 
Kind brought himself on in place of Valisammagari for the eighth over and had Bermuda U19 captain Dalin Richardson edging a drive behind for 2 to make it 36 for 3. A persistent short ball plan to opener Sharye Paynter finally paid off for Kind when a top-edged pull was taken on the circle at midwicket by Vittaladevaram to send back Bermuda’s top-scorer for 21. Raj Vyas then rounded out the pace unit’s contributions for the day by bowling Jabari Darrell with a beautiful inswinger to make it 45 for 5.
 
Jamar Stovel and Jarryd Richardson tried to extend the innings with a prolonged grind to see off the end of spells from Kind and Vyas, forcing the USA captain to turn to spin for the first time in the tournament as Vittaladevaram and Ali Sheikh were brought on to bowl in tandem beginning in the 16^th over. It was Sheikh who struck first, getting Stovel to edge to Vittaladevaram at slip to make it 61 for 6 in the 21^st.
 
Vittaladevaram then took his first wicket in the following over as Richardson slapped a half-tracker straight to Kind positioned close in at short cover. Vittaladevaram’s second wicket came on a much fuller delivery, encouraging a drive by Sancho Jackson that was caught on the circle at cover by Vatsal Vaghela.
 
Sheikh then struck again for the ninth wicket as Isaiah Greaves was pinned lbw playing across the line to an arm ball making it 70 for 9 after 27. The innings lasted just three more overs as Tybrae Robinson became Vittaladevaram’s third victim when he walked too far across his stumps and was bowled behind his legs for an 11-ball duck to end the innings.
 
Sheikh ended with solid figures of 2 for 10 in seven overs with four maidens while Vyas once again was extremely tidy in taking 1 for 15 in eight overs with four maidens. Valisammagari was slightly expensive in his 2 for 25 off three overs while Kind ended with 2 for 7 in four.
 
Sai Mukkamalla did the bulk of the damage in the USA chase, ending 33 not out off 31 balls. Mukkamalla had struck three boundaries in his first eight balls before he was spilled at first slip off the bowling of Darrell in the third over on 16. He was untroubled the rest of the way though, continuing to pace his innings at better than a run a ball.
 
The only wicket to fall came in the fourth over when Vaghela dragged on an attempted cut shot off the bowling of Nirobi Smith-Mills for 5. Majjid Zubair joined Mukkamalla and proceeded to tear into left-arm spinner Greaves, driving three boundaries over mid-off in his unbeaten 26 off 16 balls. A misfield at mid-on created a two by Zubair for the winning runs.
 
In the day’s other match, Canada also kept their record perfect with a seven-wicket win over Argentina. After Argentina elected to bat first at the toss, eight batsmen were dismissed without scoring as they were bowled out for 33 in 21 overs.
 
Argentina U19 captain Alan Kirschbaum opened the batting and top-scored with 16, but the only other player to make runs was Guido Angeletti, who made 2 coming in at No. 3. Kirschbaum lasted 64 balls before falling in the 20^th over. The rest of the Argentina lineup collectively only faced 65 balls while extras was the second-best contributor with 15, including three no balls.
 
Raqib Shamsuddin took 5 for 3 in five overs to wipe out the Argentina tail, including four wickets in the 21^st over as he narrowly missed a hat-trick. The chase lasted four overs, during which Axel Horwitz took 2 for 17 as Canada swung big in an effort to boost their net run rate. Juan Cabrera took the only other wicket to fall. Muhammad Kamal ended 15 not out off five balls with two sixes to top score for Canada.
 
All teams have an off day on Wednesday before play is scheduled to resume on Thursday. USA is set to take on Argentina while Bermuda are set to face Cayman Islands. However, thunderstorms are forecast for most of the day.