Bermuda suffered a heartbreaking seven-run defeat on Duckworth/Lewis in a thrilling rain-affected contest with Canada that went down to the last over at the North Field, National Sports Centre, yesterday.

Set a revised target of 200 from 42 overs after two rain delays which resulted in the loss of eight overs in Bermuda’s innings, victory was there for the taking for Clevie Wade’s team who required 16 runs off the final over with three wickets in hand.

With tension mounting around the ground, the home side inched closer to their target after gathering nine runs off the first four deliveries. But they all but lost the plot after tailender Chare Smith was run out on the penultimate ball of the match.

This left Bermuda requiring seven runs off the last ball which was lofted by Antione Seaman, the Bermuda wicketkeeper, to the midwicket boundary where Abdul Haseeb took a comfortable catch off the bowling of Miraj Patel, the off spin bowler, to seal the home team’s fate.

It was a cruel ending to a game Bermuda deserved to win after a 101-run fourth-wicket partnership between Jordan Smith and Delray Rawlins brought Bermuda to within striking distance of their target.

The pair came together at the crease in the fourteenth over with Bermuda wobbling at 39 for three and after playing themselves in frustrated the bowlers with the discipline and technique many of their colleagues lacked.

Smith and Rawlins produced some excellent running between the stumps and whenever the bowlers dropped short or strayed put the bad balls away, forcing Abraash Khan, the Canada captain, to shuffle his attack around to try and snap the flourishing stand.

Rawlins dominated the marathon partnership, stroking 87 from 81 deliveries with eleven fours and two sixes, while Smith provided the perfect foil on the way to a patient 27.

Both batsmen lived charmed lives as Rawlins was put down in the covers and Smith at long off.

Tempers flared in the 31st over when Rawlins, whose fifty arrived off 63 balls, and Suliman Khan, the Canadian seam bowler, had to be separated at mid-crease by teammates.

Shortly after cooler heads prevailed, the breakthrough Canada desparetely sought arrived when Smith charged Kurt Ramdath, the left-arm spinner, and was stumped by Sarhjot Singh, the wicketkeeper. Smith’s dismissal was a massive setback and Bermuda’s fortunes would take another turn for the worst when Rawlins was caught at long off by Suliman Khan four overs later.

Still, Bermuda’s tail wagged with Chare Smith and Seaman adding 25 runs for the eighth wicket to keep the game poised on a razor’s edge before Canada ultimately prevailed.

Spin bowlers Harsh Thaker, Patel and Ramdath took two wickets each. Earlier, Canada recovered from an early collapse that had them at 54 for five in the seventeenth over before middle-order batsman Arslan Khan dominated two fruitful partnerships that halted the slide.

Aided by some poor bowling and fielding, Khan added 52 runs for the sixth wicket with Singh and 92 runs for the seventh before he feathered a catch behind to Seaman, the Bermuda wicketkeeper. Khan struck 76 from 92 balls that included six fours and a six.

Jordan Smith, the off spinner, was the catalyst behind Canada’s top order collapse. The Bailey’s Bay player took four for 43 bowling his allotted ten overs unchanged from the northern end and was virtually unplayable on a track offering bounce and turn.

Christian Gibbons, the seam bowler, took two for 25 for a Bermuda attack that used ten bowlers in vain to try and dismiss the Canadians. Rawlins, the left-arm spinner, bowled economically, claiming one for 15 from ten unchanged overs with three maidens.

Bermuda face the United States at the NSC today at 10.30am.