ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

BERMUDA v UGANDA The inaugural match in the Intercontinental Shield was marred by retirements and unavailability of key players. Both sides were affected. Bermuda were without Lionel Cann, Dwayne Leverock and Janeiro Tucker through retirement and Stefan Kelly, Delyone Border, Oliver Pitcher, Glenn Blakeney and Kyle Hodson because of other commitments. Justin Pitcher pulled out of the game two days before the start, preferring to play for his club in two matches over the previous weekend. He argued that to follow this with the four-day Shield match would be too much strain on his body. The Bermuda Cricket Board then removed Chris Douglas from the squad after he missed three training days. Uganda were without Joel Olwenyi and Kenneth Kamyuka, both in dispute with the Board over expenses payments, and Junior Kwebiha, Nehal Bibodi and Nand Kishore Patel, through work commitments. Uganda’s problems were compounded when Arthur Kyobe and Daniel Ruyange were refused transit visas by the UK government. The result was two sides well below full strength. The National Stadium maintained its reputation as a difficult ground on which to score runs. Against a very moderate pace attack, the home side lost three wickets for only one run. David Hemp, Irving Romaine and Jekon Edness put up some resistance but they and the tail failed against the spin of Franco Nsubuga and Davis Arinaitwe. Uganda fared no better against the pace of Malachi Jones and Kevon Fubler and, at 10 for four, the match looked evenly poised. Bermuda’s bowlers then lost the initiative, as heavy showers caused several breaks in play, and Akbar Baig and Nsubuga took Uganda through to 71 at stumps without further loss. Overall the first day was characterised by inept batting from both sides which fell well below the standard expected for first-class cricket. Abysmal batting was the feature of the first session of the second day as Uganda collapsed from 71 for four to 119 all out. Rodney Trott found some assistance for his off spin and bowled well for his first five-wicket return in first-class matches, but Uganda’s batsmen seemed clueless on how to play four-day cricket. Nevertheless, the visitors established a first-innings lead of 28. Bermuda lost two wickets before this was cleared and struggled to make headway as further showers caused continued interruptions. Overall, two hours were lost. Steven Outerbridge and Hemp were involved in a partnership of 39 for the third wicket, but Outerbridge and Romaine were removed before the close, leaving Hemp undefeated in partnership with Fubler, the nightwatchman. By this time, Bermuda’s lead was a mere 46 runs with only six wickets left. Hemp and Fubler extended their stand to 31 but batting seemed to get progressively harder as Uganda’s bowlers extracted bounce and turn from the pitch. Hemp was the first to go, caught at the wicket trying to fend off a ball from Arinaitwe that bounced awkwardly off a good length. Edness immediately cross-batted a catch straight back to the bowler. Fubler managed to survive, but without scoring many runs, whilst wickets fell regularly at the other end as Bermuda’s batsmen again failed to appreciate the demands of four-day cricket. Instead of defence, they just slogged unsuccessfully. When Fubler was out with the score on 107 for 8, Jones tried to score off every ball. After being dropped at square leg by substitute fielder Asadu Seiga, he went down the wicket next ball, missed and was stumped. David Lovell and Tamauri Tucker frustrated Uganda with a last-wicket partnership of 29, but Charles Waiswa returned to bring the innings to an end. Uganda needed 111 to win which, if they batted as they had in the first innings, was a competitive challenge. However, they approached the task sensibly. Jones gave Bermuda a good start by trapping Roger Mukasa leg-before, the first wicket to fall in the match which was not a catch or a stumping. Lawrence Sematimba took control, despite losing Baig, a victim of Trott’s off spin, until he too fell to a stupid run-out. He attempted to sweep the ball and, thinking he had hit it, set off on what he thought would be at least two runs, only to find that he had missed it and that Edness had the ball in his hand to effect a simple dismissal. Bermuda then missed two simple catches before Benjamin Musoke and Arinaitwe took Uganda to victory. Davis Arinaitwe was the Man of the Match for his all-round display of batting and bowling. 226 ICC Intercontinental Shield 2009-10