Sai Mukkamalla's second half-century of the tournament helped USA to easily defeat Bermuda and clinched their spot in the final of the North American T20 Cup where they will have a rematch against Canada.
File photo credit: Peter Della Penna
By Peter Della Penna (Twitter/X
@PeterDellaPenna)
Sai Mukkamalla scored his second half-century of the tournament, teaming with Shayan Jahangir for an unbroken century stand quickly made Saturday’s semi-final between USA and Bermuda into no contest at the North American T20 Cup in Grand Cayman as the Americans coasted by 10 wickets, chasing down a target of 115 with 34 balls to spare. Mukkamalla was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 72 off 49 balls that included nine fours and two sixes. USA will face Canada in Sunday’s final after Canada defeated Cayman Islands by an identical 10-wicket margin after chasing down a target of 123 without any setbacks in just 13.3 overs.
The USA chase was done and dusted in under an hour thanks to Mukkamalla’s ruthless display. He attacked from the outset, helping USA to their best Powerplay total of the tournament by speeding to 61 after six overs out of which the 21-year-old made 46 runs in the opening sequence. He began by attacking former Bermuda captain Delray Rawlins in the first over, cutting him for four off the third ball before driving him through cover for another boundary to send him out of the attack.
After Jahangir began the second over against medium pacer Jermal Proctor by slapping a short ball through cover for four, a single put Mukkamalla back on strike and he immediately tucked a front foot pull over square leg for six. A misfield at extra cover off the next ball turned into another boundary for Mukkamalla before he played a lofted drive over extra cover for another boundary to end the over.
Zeko Burgess replaced Rawlins for the third, but Mukkamalla latched onto a short ball outside off and muscled a pull over midwicket for his second six. A lofted drive for four over extra cover against Burgess in the fifth over brought up the fifty partnership between Mukkamalla and Jahangir. He then ended the Powerplay by slog sweeping Allan Douglas Jr’s offspin over midwicket for a one-bounce four. Mukkamalla’s fifth T20I half-century came up off just 30 balls at the end of the seventh over when he swept left-arm spinner Derrick Brangman behind square for his eighth boundary.
Bermuda looked lifeless in the field the longer the partnership kept going and the century stand was brought up with two leg side wides bowled by Douglas Jr. to Jahangir in the 12
th over. Mukkamalla fittingly hit the match-ending single, flicking a ball from Proctor to short midwicket that was misfielded to allow the winning run two balls into the 15
th over. Jahangir ended on 35 not out off 37 balls with just the one four that came at the start of the second over.
Brangman was Bermuda’s most economical bowler, conceding 23 off four overs. Douglas Jr was the only other bowler to bowl a full quote, giving away 0 for 27 off four. Proctor was Bermuda’s least economical on the day, ending with 0 for 23 off eight legal deliveries.
USA’s bowlers held Bermuda to 114 for 7 after Bermuda had chosen to bat first at the toss. USA made one change to their lineup from the loss to Canada that ended the group stage, bringing in left-arm pacer Ayan Desai in place of offspinner Akhilesh Bodugum. Desai made an immediate impact, striking in the third over of play to get Alex Dore for 14 off 8 balls when a length ball was shoveled on the up to Mukkamalla at cover to make it 27 for 1.
Dore would be the last Bermuda player to score at better than a run a ball as their scoring rate quickly slowed down following his departure. Onias Bascome fell for 5 in the following over when Milind Kumar was brought on to replace Saurabh Netravalkar and got Bascome to drag a bottom-edged slog onto his stumps to make it 34 for 2. Rawlins fell for a four-ball duck to Milind in the sixth over after prodding down the wrong line to a ball that replays showed may have been sliding past leg stump, but the lbw decision went in USA’s favor to make it 39 for 3. Jarryd Richardson became Desai’s second victim for 3 to end the seventh over, charging down the track before miscuing a heave to midwicket where Ali Sheikh charged in off the rope for a sharp catch to make it 45 for 4.
Yasir Mohammad continued his excellent tournament with two more wickets on the day. He claimed Dominic Sabir to start the 13
th over for 11 as an attempted sweep produced a top edge to Desai at backward point to make it 72 for 5. Two overs later, Mohammad had Douglas Jr for five when a wild heave resulted in Douglas Jr dragging his back foot slightly out of the crease long enough for Jahangir to take the bails off for a sharp stumping to make it 82 for 6. Sinclair Smith was the last Bermuda wicket to fall for 3, under-edging a slog to a length ball from Jessy Singh that was taken by Jahangir to make it 92 for 7.
The only silver lining on the day for Bermuda was the anchor role played by 22-year-old Marcus Scotland, who ended up batting all 20 overs to finish on 57 not out off 57 balls. He struck three fours in his knock, the third of which came off Netravalkar in the 18
th over by slicing an attempted wide yorker just out of the reach of Jessy at short third man to move to 49 before he guided a single toward Jessy again at short third off the next delivery to bring up a maiden T20I half-century off 50 balls in just his second T20I for Bermuda.
Milind ended with USA’s best figures on the day of 2 for 6 in two overs. Mohammad’s 2 for 19 in four were the best figures for anyone completing a full quota. Desai ended with 2 for 27 off three overs while Singh returned 1 for 21 off four. Netravalkar went wicketless with 0 for 26 off four while Sheikh was economical conceding 0 for 12 off three overs.