Tony Munro

Argentina A has won the eighth South American Championships (SAC) after an emphatic seven-wicket win over hosts, Brazil in Sao Paulo yesterday.

Brazil batted first and were skittled for 65, thanks to Sergio Ciaburri's 3 for 6 from four overs and Alejo Tissera who took 3-13. Tissera – who was Man of the Match - remained unbeaten on 19 to guide Argentina 'A' to their target in the 16th over.

The win allowed Argentina A to reclaim the championship, after losing the last two tournaments to the Miami Masters, who did not play this time.

Two games were possible yesterday, with the Twenty20 format being used for the first time in the competition’s history.

In the other game, Chile earned second place with a 43-run win over Peru. Chile made a challenging 175 for 7 from their 20 overs, largely due to a 91-run stand for the third wicket shared between captain Guy Hooper (66) and Prateek Dahiya (53).

Peru never appeared to be in course for a successful chase, despite skipper Miles Buesst's 40 (five fours and one six), and Nick Appleyard chipping in with 32. Dahiya’s allround effort – he took 2 for 24 – earned him the Man-of-the-Match award after Peru were bowled out for 132.

The finishing order of the four teams was: 1st - Argentina A 3 matches, 3 wins, 0 losses, 12 points; 2nd – Chile 3 matches, 2 wins, 1 loss, 8 points; 3rd - Brazil 3 matches, 1 win, 2 losses, 4 points; 4th – Peru 3 matches, 0 wins, 3 losses, 0 points.

Argentina A batsman Grant Dugmore, fittingly celebrated his last tournament as an ICC Development Officer by winning the Player-of-the-Tournament award, while Chile captain Guy Hooper was the Batsman of the Tournament. Argentina A player Sergio Ciaburri took the bowling honours.

Cricinfo has been told that Suriname officials considered sending a team to the tournament for the first time, but the cost of other commitments at next month's World Cricket League Division Seven and under-age regional events ruled that out. The next SAC will be held in Chile in 2011.

Brazil, Chile and Peru are scheduled to join Turks & Caicos Islands, Belize and Mexico at the WCL Americas Division Three tournament in Chile later this year. The Falkland Islands will not be taking part, as its players won't be able to get sufficient time off work to participate in the event.

Brazil has kept alive its chances of winning the South American Championships on home turf by defeating Peru by 10 wickets in Sao Paulo on Saturday. It must now beat Argentina 'A' tomorrow in the Twenty20 format to celebrate hosting the tournament for the first time, by winning the trophy. In the other match tomorrow, also played to Twenty20 rules, Chile meets Peru.

Winning the toss and choosing to field, the Brazilian bowling attack limited the Peruvians to 140. Captain Harry Hildebrand top-scored with 37, while Nick Appleyard (21) and Kashyap Nansi (15) made useful contributions, as did extras.

The pick of the Brazilian bowlers was Sunny Randolph (4/31), but as a unit, the Brazilian attack restricted the scoring very well.

So with a target of 3.5 per over, the openers for Brazil started steadily and finished the job strongly in the 31st over. Greigor Caisley played some great shots on his way to 77 not out, while Matt French supported him perfectly to make a confident 42 not out.

Day 3 - Friday, April 10

In what was easily the most exciting game of the tournament so far Argentina A chased down 175 to defeat Chile on day three of the South American Championships.

Argentina A won the toss and put Chile into bat. The Chilean innings got off to a slow start with Hooper and Walker only putting on six runs before Walker (Man of the Match from day one) was caught in the slips by Dugmore (Man of the Match from day two). Prateek and Hooper then battled for the next 18 overs against some determined Argentina fielding and bowling with Ciaburri bowling particularly well 16/1 from 8 overs). With the score on 67 Prateek (23) was caught a bowled by Tissera bringing Craig Andrews to the middle. Andrews and Hooper put on a quick 20 runs before a call for a quick single found both batsmen at the same end and Hooper was run out on 31. Andrews (29) was the next to fall LBW to Casime with the score on 124. Argentine captain Tuñon then snagged three wickets for 23 runs as the Chilean middle order pushed the total to 175 for 8 at the end of their 40 overs.

Argentina’s opening batsmen Gibson (27) and Mauro (26) set the tone for the chase with 3.5 runs an over through the first 17 overs until Gibson attempted an “easy” second run against Bradbrooks arm at deep midwicket. A sizzling low throw hit the stumps directly sending an astonished Gibson back the pavilion. Mauro followed a few overs later when Bradbrook took a great catch off the bowling of Prateek. Lucas Paterlini (22) got Argentina over the hundred mark before he tried to hit Meade over the top and was caught on the boundary by Andrews.

Argentina still needed over five an over from the last 14 overs when captain Tuñon joined Dugmore in the middle. Dugmore was very nearly run out by another incredible piece of fielding from Bradbrook. A TV replay would have shown the Dugmore’s diving bat crossing the line and the ball hitting the stumps nearly simultaneously. Chile bowled extremely well but the Argentines continued to pick up enough runs each over to keep the chase alive. Tuñon (26) was finally run out by Meade with 11 runs required from 18 balls. Andrews then put the pressure on the new batsman Williams with four dot balls - a maiden over would have brought the game down to a run a ball - but Williams had other ideas. A massive six followed by a huge 4 and the game was tied. Dugmore (44*) knocked off the final run at the start of the 39th over and Argentina A won a very exciting and entertaining game of cricket. Dugmore picked up his second consecutive Man-of-the-Match award

Day 2 - Thursday, April 9

On a damp morning at the Sao Paulo Athletic Club, Peru won the toss and elected to bat against the tournament favorites Argentina A. The Argentine bowling attack was sharp but not as sharp at the catches taken in the slips. Grant Dugmore took the first catch in the third over to claim the Peruvian captain with the score on 5. Lucas Paterlini took the second catch in fourth over with the score on 6. Dugmore and Paterlini finished the match with three catches each. Everything hit in the air seemed to go to hand as Peruvian opener Chris Abbott (28*) watched helplessly as each of his teammates headed back to the pavilion. After 30.2 overs the last Peruvian batsman was run out with only 69 runs on the board.

At lunch the Argentines were 35 for 1 and halfway home with 30 overs and nine wickets in hand. The Peruvians rotated their bowlers and managed to take one more wicket but they bowled too many wides and just didn’t have enough runs on the board to make much of a fight of it. David Mauro (14*) knocked off the winning run in the 18th over putting the Argentines on the top of the table. Grant Dugmore was awarded Man of the Match for his three catches, undefeated 11 and bowling figures of 4-1-3-1.

Peru 69 (30.2ov.) (C Abbott 28*, N Awsari 18; S Ciaburi 3-18, L Paterlini 2-6, A Casime 2-13) lost to Argentina A 70-2 (17.4ov.) (D Mauri 14*, G Dugmore 11)

Click here for the first day's report.

Chile 103 for 6 (Walker 42) beat Brazil 102 (Islam 17, French 17, Bradbrook 3-19) by four wickets

The 8th South American Championships commenced on Thursday at the Sao Paulo Athletic Club in Brazil, with the first-time South American Championship hosts taking on Chile. Brazil won the toss and chose to bat on a warm, sunny morning.

After losing opener Travers McNaught in the second over, Brazil lost wickets regularly and were unable to build any significant partnerships. Middle-order batsmen Rubab Islam and Matt French both top scored with 17, with Islam hitting three fours and French one four and a six. Overall, it was a very rusty batting performance as the innings ended at 102 in the 32nd over.

The disciplined Chilean attack was led by Tristan Bradbrook (3 for 19) and well-supported by a solid fielding display.

Chile set about the job of scoring around 2.5 runs an over in a steady fashion. They went to lunch at 20 for 1 from ten overs. After the break, opener Ian Walker (42) played a key role in guiding Chile to a comfortable win. There was a bit of a wobble towards the end, but Brazil simply didn't score enough runs. Chile reached the target the 36th over with four wickets to spare. Walker was named the Man of the Match after batting for the bulk of the innings on a difficult pitch.

Tony Munro

Home team Brazil will play Chile in the opening game of the eighth South American Championships in Sao Paulo on April 8.

This year's tournament is significant for two reasons - it is being held in Brazil for the first time and the four-team event will be a warm-up for the World Cricket League Division Three tournament later this year.

Also, no 'festival' teams have been included, perhaps as a result of disquiet shown by the ICC Americas office after an 'Ecuador XI' played at the last tournament in Lima in April, 2007. Cricket has never been played in Ecuador and only one player in the squad lived in the country.

Two-time champions, the Miami Masters, which has competed in the SAC under the banner, Guyana Masters, will not be defending their title.

Another first is the introduction of the Twenty20 format to the event, with the two matches being played on April 12.

Brazil is likely to celebrate home-ground advantage by fielding four home-grown players. And fittingly the tournament will be played at the Sao Paulo Athletic Club. "It was at this club that Charles Miller introduced cricket, rugby and soccer to Sao Paulo in the 1880s," Associacao Brasileira de Cricket official, Norm Baldwin, told Cricinfo. The clubhouse hosts the Brazilian cricket museum.

Meanwhile, an under-13 team from Chile may be joined by another from Argentina in playing Brazil in Curitiba, Brazil in July. And the Brazilian women's team will be able to use the experience gained in a recent international against the Argentine women's team in when plays in a regional tournament in Florida in May.

The draw for the eighth South American Championships is:
April 8; Brazil v Chile; April 9 - Argentina 'A' v Peru; April 10 - Argentina 'A' v Chile; April 11 - Brazil v Peru; April 12 (both Twenty/20) - Chile v Peru, Brazil v Argentina 'A'.

Argentina fielded a full-strength team in the first two events, but has provided its 'A' team since then to allow a more even tournament.