by Dyon Ravello,

Following a successful opening day with two wins, NY Destroyers made light work of Dulles CC to top Group Two . Batting first Dulles were limited to 90 for 8. W Aslam was the most resistant scoring 36 with three sixes and two boundaries. A Roy had a cameo of 18 and former Destroyer Romeno Deane 11. The wickets were shared among the bowler with skipper Kevin Darlington sneered 2/13, Alex Amsterdam had 1/2, Neil Mc Garrell 1/16 and Keon Lake 1/22. Dulles were plagued by a communication issue at the crease, resulting in three batsmen being dismissed via the run out route.

Amsterdam had been the go to man for Destroyers at the 2012 US Open T20 with both bat and ball

In reply Sharaz Baksh got the chase on the road with a pair of sixes and a boundary before falling for 17. Quasen Alfred continued his miserable run with a golden duck. As did Nicholas Stanford would failed to score facing a single delivery. From 25 for 3 in the fifth over Amsterdam (29) and Kaveshwar Bridgepaul (32) ensure that the already wounded Dulles were buried. Both batsmen stroked three boundaries each with Bridgepaul clearing the ropes on two occasions, and Amsterdam once. Destroyers completing a commanding seven wicket win to qualify from Group two.

Friday served up confirmation, with Saturday being the day of elimination. Destroyer drew a pre-qualifier with Altanta Paramveers. As was the trend of the group phase, the Destroyers’ opposition batted first. D Smith start the innings in a flurry with a couple sixes and a boundary to score 17 off 11 balls. Altanta lost the plot slumping from 26/1 to 54/7. Only a 32 run eighth wicket stand between Sanjeev (20) and G Wallace (15) delayed the destruction. After 18.2 overs Altanta had mustered 101 the highest score against the Destroyers in this tourney to date. Darlington lead from the front with 3/10, Amsterdam continued his consistency with 2/14, with Twain Walters 2/29  aided by Hemant Punoo and Neil Mc Garrell with a wicket each.

NY Destroyers resumed with a healthy start with the opening pair posting 32 off just 14 balls. Following the initial whirlwind stand four wickets fell for nine runs in 2.1 overs. Sean Stanislaus and Zaheer Saffie combined for yet another unbeaten stand, yielding 58 runs to take the Destroyer to the quarterfinals. Both Stanislaus (32) and Saffie (24) struck three boundaries with the former adding a maximum.

Quarters Under Lights Against Second Seed Tigers

On to the quarters under lights Destroyers meet is US laden Washington Tigers. Tigers boosting current and former US national players batted first, game five and the Destroyers were yet to take first strike. The tempo followed the trend of the previous matches with the NY bowling gripping the Tigers. A Dawood carved out 30 with four boundaries and a six, with A Thragrajan chipping in with 14. Alex Amsterdam returned 3/13 to lead the assault, with Mc Garrell sneering 2/6 and Darlington 2/16. Tigers a far cry from their national ability all out for 76 in 16.4 overs.

Like its bowling pattern, Destroyers replicated the batting sequence which yielded success thus far. Quasen Alfred was forced to retire within the first over. As H Kurmalal and Nicholas Stanford were both dismissed giving the Tigers a snicker of hope at 12 for 2. In the group phase Amsterdam had combine with Bridgepaul as Stanislaus rallied with Saffie. This time Amsterdam scored an unbeaten score which included three boundaries. Stanislaus stroked four boundaries in his knock of 27 to complete an eight wicket win and to advance to the semifinal.