Allan Douglas Jr is determined to use his strong finish to the ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier as a springboard to accomplish greater things on a bigger stage and help guide Bermuda to the T20 World Cup.

The all-rounder saved his best performance for the final day of competition at White Hill Field yesterday, completing a five-wicket haul and top scoring with 47 runs in a man-of-the-match display as Bermuda sealed a six-wicket win over Cayman Islands.

Having struggled for form throughout the tournament, Douglas was relieved to be able to finally showcase his ability and set his sights on lighting up wickets in the United Arab Emirates.

“I was really pleased with my performance, particularly as I’ve been struggling a bit through the tournament, so for me to finish in this way is a really big thing for my confidence looking ahead to Dubai,” Douglas said.

“I’ve been a bit discouraged playing at this level and not scoring runs so to finish having scored 47 has really given me a massive boost.

“To also get my first international five-wicket haul is huge. I’m really pleased about that and hopefully out in Dubai with better wickets I can do more of the same with the bat and ball.”

With Bermuda securing a second-place finish and booking their berth in the next round of qualifiers, attention and preparations will now turn to the ICC T20 World Cup Global Qualifiers with the island among 13 other teams vying for one of six qualification spots for the World Cup in Australia in 2020.

As well as gaining a personal boost, Douglas believes Bermuda can take huge confidence from their endeavours over the past week and cause an even greater shock in Dubai in October and November.

“I think we’ve beaten the odds of not only people from outside the island, but on the island, too,” he added.

“For us to qualify for the next round having only lost one game is great for everyone involved. Hats off to all of my team-mates for giving it their all throughout the tournament.

“We’ve beaten the likes of Scotland and Netherlands before, so I don’t see any reason why we can’t beat teams like that again.

“We know what we are capable of and so we’ll just have to see what happens on any given day.

“We haven’t made the World Cup since 2007 [50 overs] and so this is a huge step towards making it once again.

“Hopefully, we can finish inside the top six in Dubai and reach the World Cup again.”