A polished performance by Canada condemned The Bahamas to a crushing 162-run defeat yesterday at Wellington Oval.

The North Americans first posted a challenging 260 for eight in their 50 overs ? thanks to solid contributions throughout their line-up ? and then dismantled their Caribbean opponents for a meagre 98 in 23 overs; a bizarre innings that was characterised by a clatter of wickets at the start and again at the end.

Reduced to 25 for five, the Bahamians seemed to be fighting back with a partnership of 52 between skipper Gary Armstrong and no-nonsense all-rounder Garcha Blair for the sixth wicket.

However, after they were separated with the score at 77 ? Blair falling for the top score of 30 (four fours; one six) ? the team folded two short of the three-figure mark. Stunningly, they lost their last four batsmen for no addition to the score and five Bahamians recorded ducks.

In the midst of the island chain?s demise, there was a ?hat-trick? of sorts in Canadian captain John Davison?s third and final over.

On the first ball, Armstrong ? who laboured for 19 runs ? was snapped up by Ian Billcliff at second slip. Venris Bennett was then smartly stumped off the second ball by Ashish Bagai in an expert piece of wicket-keeping. Bennett?s replacement, Gary Campbell, was run out at the non-striker?s end off the third ball, attempting a non-existent single to Zubin Surkari at fine leg.

The Bahamas were then reeling on 98 for nine wickets from 22 overs and, off the last ball of the next over, Andy Ford proved himself a genuine number 11 with a slog that landed in Nicholas de Groot?s lap at extra cover.

Davison and Austin Codrington ? who took three wickets in a nine-ball over at the beginning of The Bahamas innings ? had the best bowling figures for Canada with three for 15 off three overs and three for 20 off five overs respectively.

Earlier, opener Desmond Chumney and middle-order batsman Billcliff both scored 44 while former Guyanese player Sunil Dhaniram chipped in with 46 at number seven. De Groot hit 33 and Codrington an unbeaten 30.

Seven of The Bahamas? nine bowlers took one wicket each while the eighth victim was run out.

Armstrong, 39, said his team failed to recover from the early inroads made by Codrington and Ashish Patel and agreed it was a poor showing from which they would be aiming to rebound.

By contrast, Davison was pleased to secure Canada?s first victory but lamented that no-one scored highly though a handful of batsmen got good starts. The 34-year-old also chided his bowlers for too many wides but noted the game helped get everyone into a rhythm to battle stronger teams like Bermuda and the USA.