[naviga:font color="BLUE"] Canada 170-7

Bermuda 111-4

(match abandoned)

Bermuda's 2010 Under-19 World Cup qualifying hopes were sucked away by a tornado that touched down at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club in Toronto on Saturday.

With Bermuda chasing 171 for victory in a match reduced to 33 overs per side due to time lost to morning showers, play was halted for good in the 25th over when the twister wreaked mayhem around the ground, sending players, team officials and fans alike running for cover.

All-rounder Jordan DeSilva and assistant coach Clevie Wade both suffered mild injuries after being struck by flying debris while a local fan at the rain-hit match narrowly escaped serious harm when a huge tree came crashing down beside her.

The violent storm lasted about 15 minutes, after which the game was abandoned.

Andre Manders, the Bermuda coach, described the ordeal as harrowing and totally unexpected.

"In all my years I have never seen anything like this before. One moment we were playing cricket and the next the wind came up and began knocking down trees and tossing everything about," he told The Royal Gazette.

"Everyone was running for shelter while objects were swirling all over the place. It was scary and fortunately no one was seriously injured."

Somerset cricketer DeSilva was reportedly hit by one of the number plates that blew off the scoreboard while former St.George's Cup Match skipper Wade was struck in the head when "high swirling winds" ripped Bermuda's makeshift pavilion from the ground.

When the storm subsided, Canada were declared winners by five runs via Duckworth/Lewis calculations.

The result meant Bermuda finished the tournament in third place behind runners-up USA who along with champions Canada claimed the two global Under-19 World Cup qualifying spots up for grabs.

Bermuda won the toss and sent their hosts in to bat in the hopes of making early inroads in the damp conditions with the new ball. But the Canadians proved equal to the task with opener Hiral Patel top scoring with 95 after being dropped early in his innings.

That the Islanders restricted the Canadians below the double century mark owed much to the bowling of Joshua Gilbert (two for 32), Chris Douglas (two for 31) and Lateef Trott (two for 27) who each made inroads in the late overs which saw five wickets tumble for 22 runs.

In reply, Bermuda lost Trott (one) and Douglas (one) cheaply but regained their footing with Regino Smith (13) and skipper Terryn Fray (45) adding 37 runs for the third wicket to stop the rot.

Fray, whose 78-ball knock contained two boundaries, also added 54 runs for the fourth wicket with all-rounder Deunte Darrell (25) before the latter was held at mid-wicket attempting to hit over the infield just moments before the weather took a turn for the worse.

Darrell's dismissal ultimately proved decisive in the grand scheme of things as it opened the door just wide enough for Canada to surge ahead on run rate and win the tournament outright with an unbeaten record.

Yet despite coming up short Manders reckoned valuable lessons would have been learned on tour.

"The guys took it hard because we felt we had the match in the bag until we lost that last wicket. But we have seen a lot of positive things over the past several days, particularly from our bowlers who I felt did a good job," he said.

Vice-captain Douglas was the tournament's leading wicket-taker with 14 scalps while Manders' son, Tre, produced the best figures by a bowler of five for 18 against Bahamas.

All-rounders Douglas and Darrell also earned man-of-the-match accolades during the six-day regional event.

Manders believed Bermuda's loss to USA earlier in the week was the real turning point in the tournament for his team.

"That loss really cost us and I still think we should have won," he said. "We had one foot in the door and today (Saturday) the rain came and hampered our chances."

Bermuda's youngsters were also hampered by their inability to play spin and by a tendency to drop catches at crucial stages of the match, as was the case against USA and Canada with their World Cup qualifying hopes on the line.

"I don't think our batsmen played spin as well as they could have while we also dropped vital catches that cost us in the end," added Manders.

"Playing at home you might get away dropping catches, but not at this level. At this level you just can't afford to make any mistakes and, of course, catches win matches."