Param Veers Sports Complex Ground 1 (Bermuda won toss): Canada beat Bermuda by 13 runs (DLS method)

Bad weather denied Bermuda what seemed an attainable victory at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Americas Qualifier in Rydal, Georgia, as Canada secured a slender win today.

The match was evenly poised after Luke Horan followed up his fine bowling by scoring 36 to leave Bermuda on 94 for six in 34.4 overs when heavy rain, accompanied by strong wind forced the players off the field.

At that stage, 54 runs were still required in 15.2 overs with four wickets remaining, but with no further play possible, Bermuda came out second-best in pursuit of a par score of 120 under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.

Isaiah O’Brien picked up three wickets while Horan and Keegan Jones had two apiece, as Canada, led by 54 from Shivam Sharma, were mopped up for 147 in 39.5 overs.

Horan gave Bermuda a dream start with the ball when he dismissed Yuvraj Samra and Dharm Patel for ducks off consecutive balls in the first over of the match.

Some good fielding from Callum MacFarlane saw Aryan Sidhu run out. O’Brien bowled Jadmandeep Paul for the first of his three wickets.

Jones and O’Brien combined to remove Krishh Misra and Mohammad Thanvir to leave the Canadians struggling at 67 for six.

Sharma and Toby Cox put on 70 runs for the seventh wicket to dig Canada out of the hole. But once Sharma departed in the 36th over, the Canadians staggered to their lowest total batting first in the tournament.

With 2.96 runs required an over, Clay Smith decided to tweak his batting order, with Callum MacFarlane and Xavien James asked to open.

The move did not yield dividends, as both were gone in the first eight overs of the run chase.

When the lunch break was taken, Bermuda were on 21 for two after nine overs, needing 127 runs in 41 overs, something that looked achievable at that stage.

Luke Fulton departed for 18 and O’Brien, continuing his dire form with the bat, went for three trying to clear the boundary. Horan was caught and bowled by Paul with 68 runs needed and Jones followed four balls later, run out attempting a second.

Captain Zeri Tomlinson was unbeaten on 16 and Sa-Qui Robinson was on four when inclement weather caused an abrupt end to the contest.

Bermuda should end the tournament on a high note when they face bottom side Argentina tomorrow.

The United States predictably secured the Americas ticket to the World Cup when they defeated Argentina by nine wickets chasing 35. The Americans moved to an unassailable ten points before they clash with Canada on the final day.