SUPER50: Hetmyer hits 94 as Jaguars end on a high

Guyana Jaguars wrapped up a disappointing preliminary round campaign in the Regional Super50 by brushing aside ICC Americas by eight wickets, in their final Group B outing on Thursday. Already eliminated from advancing to the final four, Jaguars used the opportunity to notch their fourth win of the tournament by easily chasing down 171 at 3Ws Oval.

Opener Shimron Hetmyer, returning to the line-up after missing the last two games, missed out on a maiden hundred with 94, while fellow left-hander Assad Fudadin hit 54 – his second half-century of the competition.

The pair put on 142 for the first wicket to negate any chance of an upset, as ICC Americas slumped to their sixth defeat in seven outings. Hetmyer, the successful former West Indies Under-19s captain, hammered ten fours and four sixes in an aggressive 76-ball knock, while Fudadin faced 66 deliveries and counted four fours and two sixes.

Jaguars galloped to their 50 off just 48 balls and reached 100 in the 19th over, with Hetmyer undertaking the bulk of the scoring. In fact, he raised his half-century off 49 deliveries and then required another 27 deliveries to motor into the 90s before falling short of his landmark.

He perished in the 26th over with the score on 158, 19 deliveries after Fudadin had departed. Earlier, ICC Americas were bowled out of 170 off 48.1 overs, after choosing to bat first.

They were undermined by left-arm seamer Raymon Reifer (3-15) and leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo (3-28) both of whom finished with three wickets apiece. Nikhil Dutta top-scored with 38, Saad bin Zafar weighed in with 36 while Nitish Kumar got 31.

Openers Akeem Dodson (2) and Kamau Leverock (5) both fell cheaply to leave ICC Americas struggling on 12 for two in the fifth over before Kumar and Alex Amsterdam, who made 25, put on 55 for the third wicket.

Once they were separated, another slump ensued where ICC Americas lost four wickets for nine runs in the space of 24 balls and this time, Dutta and bin Zafar combined in a 67-run partnership, to rescue the innings.

Dutta struck two fours off 77 balls while bin Zafar cracked a four and a six off 63 balls but the partnership though productive was a slow one and ICC Americas were only 136 for six in the 40th over.

When left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul removed Dutta to a catch at the wicket in the 43rd over, the innings declined again as the last four wickets fell for 27 runs. (windiescricket)