Canada clinches 1st-ever berth to T20 cricket World Cup with win over Bermuda

Canada's men's cricket team is headed to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup for the first time ever after defeating Bermuda by 39 runs Saturday in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Canada won the toss and elected to bat first at the National Sports Centre. Each team was restricted to 18 overs, down from 20, due to the delayed start and weather conditions.

The Canadian batsmen finished strongly with Nicholas Kirton sparking a 20-run final over for a total of 132 runs for four wickets. Opener Navneet Dhaliwal led Canada with 45 runs.

Bermuda's batsmen had no answer for Kaleem Sana's accuracy and Jeremy Gordon's pace, all out for 93 in the 17th over. Both bowlers took three wickets with Bermuda's lower order crumbling from 85 for five to 93 all out.

The Canadians failed to qualify for the eight previous editions of the T20 World Cup, which has expanded to 20 teams in 2024 when it will be co-hosted by the West Indies and United States.

Canada, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Panama were competing in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Region Final, a double round-robin format, for a berth in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Canada and Bermuda both finished with 4-1-0 records with one no-result. But Canada, which lost to Bermuda by 86 runs in its opening match, won the tournament by a superior net run rate (3.98 to 2.41).

"A lot of cricketing gurus here wrote us off after the first day but I believe God could not have written a more dramatic script for us," said Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar, before hoisting the tournament trophy surrounded by his teammates.

"He tested our patience and self-belief but we kept a positive mindset throughout the tournament ... Every day was a fight after that for every run, because we were chasing that run rate

"It's our dream to play in a World Cup," he added.

Sana was named player of the match after taking his three wickets at the expense of just four runs. He was also named bowler of the tournament after taking 15 wickets in total.

"I can't describe my feelings right now," Sana said after receiving his reward.

Bermuda's Kamau Leverock was named both the tournament's top batsman, with 233 runs, and MVP

The Cayman Islands (1-3-0 with two no results) finished third and Panama (0-4-0 with two no results) fourth after their early match Saturday was called off.