National Sports Centre (Canada won toss): Canada beat Bermuda by four wickets

Canada opened their three-match tour to Bermuda with victory in a rain-shortened match that did not start until 12.30pm and ended in near darkness.

In a match reduced to 38 overs a side, the visitors didn’t hesitate to send Bermuda in to bat on a wicket that was damp from heavy morning rain and which subsequently proved difficult to bat on with its uneven bounce. Bermuda were dismissed for 92 in 32 overs despite openers OJ Pitcher and Terryn Fray, the captain and vice-captain, putting on 32 in 12 overs. The last nine wickets went down for just 60 runs.

The wicket proved difficult for Canada to bat on, too, after their target was reduced to 72 in 24 overs. Bermuda made a game of it, inspired by a good spell from youngster Cejay Outerbride who got the breakthrough in his first over and went on to finish with five for 16 from his allotted five overs.

First he had Durand Soraine caught by Kamau Leverock at mid-wicket with just one run on the board. After switching to the Swimming Pool End he followed up with two more wickets in the seventh and ninth overs when he removed captain Navneet Dhaliwal and Armaan Kapoor, before ending his spell with the wicket of Srimarthe Wijeyeralne to have Canada wobbling a bit at 31 for four.

Veteran Dean Minors showed at 46 he still has something to offer after leading the Bermuda batting with 28 off 27 balls with three fours in the tail end. He then took three catches and a stumping, including two of the catches and the stumping down the legside.

In the end Canada managed to win with less than three overs to spare with opener Mohamed Kamileen their high man with 20 in 61 minutes before he became Minors’ stumping victim to make it 40 for five. Left-hander Saad Zafar took Canada to the brink of victory with his knock of 18 before he, too, fell to a legside catch by Minors off Pitcher, who claimed two for 19.

Earlier Pitcher helped give his team an encouraging start but wickets fell regularly after the Bermuda captain, still not 100 per cent following a knee injury, struggled after Fray called him for a quick single and was run out for 15 by Rishir Joshi’s throw from the covers.

The departure of Tre Manders in the next over signalled a collapse as Joshi, just 15, ripped through the top order with his left-arm seam, taking three for 19 from six overs.

Joshi, a member of Canada’s developmental team, bowled Manders and then had Fray and Kamau Leverock caught in successive overs to have Bermuda reeling at 42 for five after 19 overs.

Minors, who came to the crease at 58 for six, gave Bermuda some hope of passing 100, but that was dashed when he was ninth out on 92 in the 31st over, when a straight drive against the wind off Nikhil Dutta was caught at long-off by Soraine.

Dutta finished with three 19 from five overs of spin while another spinner, Saad Zafar, who came into the attack as first change in the tenth over, had impressive figures of two for three from six overs, with three maidens.