Canada 185

Bermuda 148

Bermuda were forced to settle for second place at the Americas Under 19 Cricket Championships after falling to a 37-run defeat at the hands of Canada in Saturday's finale.

A boisterous crowd at Somerset Cricket Club watched the previously unbeaten home side restrict the tourists to a modest 185 from the allotted 50 overs, a target later reduced to 178 via the Duckworth/Lewis method due to a rain delay.

However, their joy would be short-lived as Canada, clearly having done their homework in analysing the weaknesses of their opponents, unearthed a plan that served to stifle Bermuda's normally free flowing batsmen.

For the first time during the week-long event, Canada combined spin with pace to open their attack. And Bermuda's openers Stephen Outerbridge and Dion Stovell struggled as a result, managing just 16 runs from the first 10 overs despite the fielding restrictions.

"We came two years ago and had a 3-0 against them and were able to defend 160 and 170, and did that very well, so we were confident going in," said Canadian captain Ashish Bagai, who is also a member of Canada's senior national team that qualified for the World Cup. "We knew we had a good bowling attack, especially a few good spinners. Bermuda are not the greatest against spinners, so we thought we had a good chance.

"It was the first time we opened in the tournament with a spinner, and we knew that it would put pressure on them because they didn't like the spinners and it turned out to be good strategy by the coach.

"He did a good job in figuring out the batsmen, and Paul (Ziesmann) and Nathan (Richards), the opening bowlers did a good job in sticking to a line, putting pressure on them, frustrating them, and it worked out for us."

Bermuda were further put under pressure when they lost two wickets at 23, with Stovell bowled by a ball that came off his back pad for 14 and Chris Foggo following two balls later without scoring.

O.J. Pitcher (26) and Outerbridge (19) began rebuilding with a 43-run third wicket stand, but both would perish at 66 and the local lads never fully recovered.

Number five Delyone Borden offered a glimmer of hope with a patient 36, but with wickets falling around him and the overs dwindling, he was at a loss to save the match, as Bermuda were dismissed for 141.

Afterwards, a joyful Jeff Thomas, coach of Canada, celebrated the triumph with a cold beer with his captain.

"Well, it's pretty sweet," said Thomas. "Bermuda, I think, felt the pressure a bit at the end, having to chase on a pretty slow, tough wicket.

"Our guys stuck it out from the start and put a total up as best they could, and it was just good enough in the end. It was a bit closer than the score reflected. The guys just kept fighting through to the end, and it was a pretty gutsy effort by a young side.

"We thought we should have got 220, and were disappointed that we were well short of what we wanted. But in saying that the guys went out there and really fought hard, they knew it would be tough, but we knew we would have to keep taking wickets and keep the pressure on them, because we had to bowl them out."

Thomas was particularly proud of Bagai, whose half century turned out to be a match-winning knock. Bagai top scored with 56, with other useful contributions coming from Jon Roberts (25) and Gibran Rahman (21).

"It wasn't easy out there and he kept losing wickets around him, but he played a very mature knock," said Thomas. "He's been in this kind of cricket for a fair while now, and his batting this year has come on in leaps and bounds and he reads the game a lot better than he used to, identifying momentum shifts and so on.

"He's a quality player both keeping and batting."

Meanwhile, a disappointed Bermuda coach Andre Manders, could only reflect on what might have been.

"This was the first time we fielded first and the guys may have been a little complacent. We had been batting first and this time we had to chase a smaller total, we lost a couple early wickets and then nobody really applied themselves.

"We got a few partnerships, but we needed someone to bat to the end and score 50 and we probably would have won."

"But these guys have worked hard, trained hard, and it's just unfortunate that it came down to the last game for them to lose."