Updated: September 30, 2023 at 4:47 p.m.

Bermuda put in a superb performance to beat Canada (Photo provided)

White Hill Field (Canada won the toss): Bermuda beat Canada by 86 points

Bermuda took a giant step towards qualifying for the T20 Cricket World Cup by beating favorites Canada in the opening match of the Americas regional qualifier.

Bermuda captain Delray Rawlins and man of the match Kamau Leverock led the way with knocks of 66 and 83 respectively, as the island’s two star cricketers bludgeoned Canada’s bowlers in all corners of White Hill Field to help their team score 181 for nine. in the 20 overs allotted to them.

From there it was the bowlers’ turn and the returning Cejay Outerbridge exploded into Canada’s top order, dismissing their top three batters in a scintillating spell.

Outerbridge, playing their first international match since 2018, was supported by Zeko Burgess, who picked up two wickets, as did Rawlins with Derrick Brangman and Leverock both grabbing a wicket each as Bermuda bowled out their opponents for just 95 in 17 overs .

It was Bermuda’s first victory over Canada in international cricket since June 2008, when they beat the Canadians by 11 runs (D/L method) in their own backyard and Rawlins was delighted with the excellent start to campaign.

“It’s a great feeling and there’s been a lot of hard work that went into it,” Rawlins said.

“It’s a long road ahead, one game at a time. There are still five games left and we are locked in and looking to continue.

Rawlins and Leverock put on 97 runs for the third wicket and Rawlins was keen to pay tribute to his partner.

“We just played and I wasn’t really thinking about much,” Rawlins said.

“We just tried to be positive and do credit to Kamau. It was a serious innings and definitely deserved man of the match.

“We have to give it our all and the boys set the tone from the start, diving and stopping the balls. That’s what it takes to win games

“We could have won by two points and I would still have the same feeling. For me, a win is a win and I’m very happy that we crossed the finish line and did it the way we did. It was nice.

“We take it one game at a time, one ball at a time, without thinking too far ahead and continue to play the way we know how to play.”

Outerbridge made a huge impact on his return to the international stage and were delighted with his efforts.

“It’s always good to get a good start and it’s a good win for us to start the campaign,” Outerbridge told Tthe Royal Gazette.

“That’s the main goal and you just have to keep going after that.” It wasn’t my first time playing in Canada, so I knew I had to go hard and give it my all.

“We just have to continue from today, give 100% effort and go for it. We just have to do our best, do our best for the rest of the tournament and come out on top.

Leverock and Rawlins gave Bermuda a bright start after being asked to bat, as the home side raced to 62 for two in the power play.

The left-handed pair destroyed the Canadian bowling attack and batted for most of Bermuda’s innings to give the team a formidable score, with 200 looking achievable until Kaleem Sana shook the Bermudian batters with three wickets in the penultimate over to finish with four. for 23.

Canada didn’t even sniff at the target once Outerbridge struck with its first ball to remove Aaron Johnson. The left-arm seamer followed up with dismissals of Navneet Dhaliwal and Nicholas Kirton to leave Canada reeling at 14 for three.

Burgess and Rawlins weighed in with two wickets each as Canada fell back with three overs remaining, their top six batters failing to reach double figures, with the highest score coming from Nikhil Dutta with 27 .