Six Sixes Each: Marc Taylor Fights Alone, Delray Rawlins Finishes It in 17 Balls

Rain had a big say in this North America Cup. The two Bahamas v Bermuda group games on September 25 were abandoned without a ball bowled, and so on Saturday evening at the Jimmy Powell Oval these two sides finally played each other, in the 3rd place play-off.

It turned into two innings from two players. Marc Taylor made 62 from 59 balls out of the Bahamas' 82 all out, and every one of his boundaries was a six. Delray Rawlins answered with 52 from 17 balls, also with six sixes, and Bermuda won by 8 wickets with 83 balls remaining. Rawlins also took 1 for 14 and two catches and was named Player of the Match.

The Bahamas chose to bat. Gregory Taylor went for 0 with seven on the board, caught by Rawlins off Dominic Sabir, and Festus Benn spent 20 balls making 8. Then the middle order collapsed. From 27 for 2 the Bahamas lost four wickets for 11 runs and were 38 for 6 at the end of the 12th over. Kwaisi James did most of the damage and finished with 4 for 26: Benn caught by Terryn Fray, Keith Burrows caught by Smith, Ricardo Patten bowled and Everette Haven lbw. Burrows, Patten and Haven faced four balls between them.

Marc Taylor kept going. He did not hit a single four. He waited for the ball he wanted and hit it over the rope, six times. From 38 for 6 the Bahamas reached 77 before the seventh wicket fell. That was the only period of the innings when they looked like a batting side. When Rawlins had Taylor caught by Fray at 80 in the 18th over, the innings ended within seven balls. The last four wickets fell for five runs, and Sabir finished it with 3 for 14.

Taylor made 62 of the 82. The other ten batters made 16 between them. A top score of 62 in a total of 82 is remarkable, and it says as much about the Bahamas batting around him as it does about Taylor.

Bermuda needed 83. They got there in 37 balls. Delray Rawlins reached fifty from 16 balls, and his 52 came with six sixes and two fours, so 44 of his runs came in boundaries. Sabir (13 from 9) helped him add 37 by the end of the third over. When Rawlins was caught by Festus Benn off Turan Brown in the fifth over, Bermuda were 70 for 2 and needed only 13 more. Kamau Leverock and Terryn Fray made them.

Turan Brown, the Bahamas captain, took both wickets with 2 for 24. Nobody else could slow the scoring. Six bowlers were used in 6.1 overs.

Rawlins was involved in the whole match. He caught Gregory Taylor for a duck and Turan Brown for 4. His four overs cost 14 and included the wicket that mattered most, Marc Taylor's. Then he took the chase away in 17 balls. Taylor had batted for most of the innings to make 62 with six sixes. Rawlins made 52 with six sixes in less than a third of the time.

Our preview was written for the 6th Match on September 25, and that game, like the 5th Match on the same day, was abandoned without a ball bowled. The preview called the weather "the wildcard", and the weather decided both games. Its main claims still hold up for this play-off. It called Bermuda "the clear favourites" and built its case around Delray Rawlins, who was Player of the Match. It said the Bahamas' best hope rested on a match-winning all-round performance from Marc Taylor. He made 62 of 82 but did not bowl, and it was not enough. It also named Derrick Brangman as a new-ball threat (he took 4-0-16-1) and Festus Benn as the Bahamas bowler who could break through Bermuda's top order early. Benn did not bowl in this match.

Bermuda take third place. Their tournament included a two-wicket defeat to the Cayman Islands and a ten-wicket win over them on September 23, and ended with this. The Bahamas leave after a 131-run defeat to the hosts, a no result against them and two washouts, with Marc Taylor's 62 the best thing they did on the field. The final had not been confirmed at the time of writing. Unlock CricIntel Pro for Americas cricket coverage.