June 3, 2010 – When Bahamas almost chased down 334 in only 34 overs against Argentina

India’s chase of 321 against Sri Lanka during the 2012 CB Tri-series remains the fastest 300+ chase in ODI history. They got to the target in only 36.4 overs when they needed to get it by end of the 40th over for a bonus point. Thus, they broke the record of the fastest 300+ run chase which was held by Sri Lanka who reached the target of 322 against England in only 37.3 overs during the 2006 Leeds ODI. However, in an unofficial game in 2010, an associate side was a hit away from chasing down 334 that too by 35th over.

It was recorded during the ICC World Cricket League Americas Region Division One in 2009-10 which was hosted by Bermuda. The ICC Americas Championship began in 2000 involving five teams and was held every two years. The 2002 edition saw six teams but from 2006, the Championship tournament had three divisions. The 2009-10 Division One competition involved Argentina, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, USA and also the Bahamas who were the topper of Division Two.

Avoiding the relegation

The Bahamas struggled to get going in Division One as they lost each of their first four matches. They were placed at bottom of the six teams and were the only side without a win ahead of the final set of matches. The Bahamas faced Argentina on the last day of the tournament at the St John’s Field. Argentina were placed at No.4 ahead of Cayman Islands on NRR as the two teams managed to win only one game apiece. Argentina elected to bat first after winning the toss in their final fixture.

Opener Lucas Paterlini was aggressive through his knock as he smashed 138 from 127 balls with as many as nine sixes and 12 fours. Donald Forrester’s unbeaten 39-ball 71 with nine boundaries towards the end helped Argentina finish with 333/5. The Bahamas then needed to chase the target in 35 overs to overcome Argentina’s NRR and escape from relegating to Americas Division Two. However, the Bahamas were quite poor through the tournament with the best total of 192 till then and were all out in every match.

The fightback of Bahamas

Bahamas team lost both their openers in the first three overs of the chase and were reduced to 16/2. But the No.3 and No.4 batters, Rohan Parkes and Marc Taylor, led a fightback of the team. The duo stunned everyone by adding 197 runs for the third wicket; all of them in just 70 odd minutes. Rohan smashed 133 from only 59 balls and scored 122 runs in boundaries alone as he struck 11 sixes and 14 fours. Taylor hit eight sixes and six fours on his way to 93 that came off 57 balls.

The Bahamas lost both the set batsmen but reached 252/4 as a perfect platform was set for a record finish. The Argentina skipper Esteban MacDermott received heavy thrashing as he ended up conceding 72 runs in only four overs. Narendra Ekanayake took the responsibility of taking the Bahamas through the chase as he scored 43 with seven fours in only 28 balls. This helped the Bahamas to reach 332/7 by end of the 32nd over and needed four runs further from 2.5 overs.

Mad end to a crazy game

Though a lot of time left to achieve the four overs, Ekanayake got run out at the score of 332 in the 33rd over trying to level the scores. In the very same over, Jermaine Adderley was caught behind to Diego Lord leaving the last pair of the Bahamans to get two runs. The No.11 batsman Albert Peters played out the last three balls of the 33rd over to hand the strike to No.10 batter Jonathan Barry.

However, he didn’t score a run on the first two balls of the over bowled by Lucas Paterlini. But Barry, on the 3rd ball, managed to clear the infield to level the scores and assumed the ball had reached the boundary rope. Assuming the match was won, Barry made no effort to return to the crease and ended up getting run out at the striker’s end. Thus, Bahamas had to settle with a Tie though they still had as many as 99 balls for scoring a run to complete a record chase.

Adding to their disappointment, the Bahamas were relegated to Division Two in the Americas Region Championship. Argentina moved to No.4 spot thanks to the one point they got from the Tied game. Cayman Islands finished 5th with only two points following a 10-wicket defeat to the USA. The Bahamas had a run rate of 9.94 during the chase. If this game had ODI status, Bahamas would have recorded the highest run rate during an ODI inning of 25+ overs.