Canada's cricketers qualify for T20 World Cup with win over Bermuda
Teenage batsman Yuvraj Samra scored 45 runs Sunday as Canada celebrated qualification for next year's ICC Men's T20 World Cup with a six-wicket win over Bermuda in the final game of the four-country Americas Qualifier.
Canada's seven-wicket win over the Bahamas on Saturday, coupled with Bermuda's nine-wicket loss to the Cayman Islands, sealed the Canadian qualification on the penultimate day of the four-team qualifier.
Sunday's win, which improved Canada's tournament record to 6-0-0, was icing on the qualifying cake.
'It's a great feeling,' captain Nicholas Kirton said of qualification. 'Obviously we were there a year ago, so it's good to be preparing for that again.
'Playing with a team like that, obviously it's easy to get into the winning habit. It's just to keep doing the basics right and hopefully we can continue.'
Canada made its T20 World Cup debut last year, failing to advance out of the group stage after beating No. 11 Ireland and losing to No. 8 Pakistan and co-host United States, ranked 17th. A match against No. 1 India was abandoned because of inclement weather.
Bermuda won the toss Sunday and elected to bat at the Maple Leaf Cricket Ground where it was 32 C feeling like a steamy 39 C for the mid-afternoon start. After a storming inning of 70 runs by No. 3 batsman Delray Rawlins, Bermuda's batting order crumbled.
Bermuda finished at 131 all out midway through the 19th over. That set Canada a victory target of 132 from its 20 overs.
Canada put up its half-century in the fifth over with Samra accounting for 40 of the runs. But the 18-year-old was bowled by Dominic Sabir in the sixth over with Canada at 63 for one. Samra finished with three sixes and five fours in his 23-ball knock.
Fellow opener Dilpreet Bajwa was caught two balls later on 12 runs off 10 deliveries. And Pargat Singh was run out the next over with Canada at 65 for three.
The Canadians were 85 for three after 10 overs. Harsh Thaker (33 runs) and Kirton (17 runs) steered Canada over the victory line at 132 for four wickets in the 16th over.
Canada is the 13th country to qualify for the 20-team T20 World Cup in February-March 2026. The other qualified sides are Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, the U.S., West Indies, Ireland, New Zealand and Pakistan, plus co-hosts India and Sri Lanka.
Seven more teams – two from the Europe Qualifier (to be played July 5-11), two from the Africa Qualifier (Sept. 19 to Oct. 4) and three from the Asia-Pacific Qualifier (Oct. 1-17) – will book their ticket through regional qualifiers.
Canada defeated Bermuda by 110 runs in its June 15 opening match at the Americas Qualifier.
Bermuda was 100 for two after 10 overs Sunday, before losing the next eight wickets for just 31 runs.
Rawlins' fine innings ended when he was caught at the boundary by Shivam Sharma off Saad Bin Zafar's last delivery of the 11th over with Bermuda at 102 for three.
Kaleem Sana and Zafar each took three wickets. Zafar was named player of the match, conceding just 10 runs in his four overs.
Sharma was named best bowler of the tournament after taking 11 wickets, while Jermaine Baker of the Cayman Islands, with 311 runs, was named best batsman and tournament MVP.
Sana removed Bermuda opener Tre Manders with Canada's first ball. But Rawlins, the No. 3 batsman, came out swinging, scoring 14 balls off Dilon Heyliger's first three deliveries of a third over that produced 16 runs for Bermuda.
Rawlins punished Jaskaran Buttar in the fourth over, with 10 runs of his first two deliveries of a 14-run over. And Rawlins attacked the spin of Thaker the next over, reaching his half-century with a four-six-four off the first three balls.
Canada had a slight chance to remove Rawlins on 64 in the eighth over but a diving Singh was unable to get to a moonshot when it came down. Rawlins and Alex Dore put on an 83-run partnership before Dore, on six, was caught by Zafar off Buttar's last delivery of the eighth over.
The 27-year-old Rawlins, who made his debut for Bermuda at 15 and went on to make 138 appearances for Sussex in England, slammed six sixes and four fours in his 42-ball knock. Onias Bascome added 20 runs.
Canada, the Bahamas, Bermuda and Cayman Islands were competing in an eight-day, double round-robin format that sent the tournament winner to the T20 World Cup.
Canada is ranked 19th in T20 play by the International Cricket Council, compared to No. 27 for Bermuda, No. 41 for the Cayman Islands and No. 56 for the Bahamas.
The Cayman Islands and Bahamas were recently promoted from the Subregional Qualifier.
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