A heroic 64-run rearguard from Dean Minors and Lionel Cann gave Bermuda a thrilling three-wicket triumph over big rivals Canada at Queen?s Park Oval yesterday ? a result which guarantees their place in Saturday?s Tri-Series final against Zimbabwe.

Needing to chase only 157 to win after winning the toss and bowling beautifully, it looked for all money like Bermuda had made a complete hash of what should have been a comfortable run chase on a placid surface ? their difficulties based on some scandalously poor shot selection from the top order, who once again relied on the tail to clean up their mess.

At 97 for seven in the 29th over, Janeiro Tucker?s men looked dead and buried, and it took all the guts and resolve Minors could muster to maintain his composure under such intense pressure.

Cann, meanwhile, had been passed fit to play in the match early yesterday morning, but admitted afterwards that he was still not right ? his torn left groin quite obviously giving him problems when sprinting for tight singles.

Shrugging off the pain, however, he and Minors drove the pumped up Canadian bowlers to distraction with their scampered singles and lusty driving through midwicket and over extra cover, reaching victory in their first ever One-Day International with 13 balls to spare.

For their part, the Canadians responded brilliantly to defending such a paltry total and pushed their opponents to the very limit ? though they simply had no answer to the inspirational Bermudian duo as the shadows lengthened across the Oval.

Bermuda play Zimbabwe today in what has turned out to be a meaningless game in terms of the make-up of the final, though it will provide some indication of how the side match up against the big boys.

Bermuda?s reply had got off to a terrible start when Daniel Morgan shuffled across his stumps in the second over and was trapped right in front by Canadian opening bowler Sanjay Thuraisingam.

Both he and the tall paceman Henry Osinde caused problems with the new ball, as Kwame Tucker and number three Saleem Mukuddem did their best to get forward and to resist nibbling at anything outside the off stump ? though the South African was dropped at slip by Barnett when only on five.

His charmed life ended soon after, however, when he was caught behind off Osinde, while young lefthander Azeem Pitcher looked all at sea against the big-spinning off-breaks of Canadian captain John Davison and was snaffled brilliantly at slip by Barnett to leave Bermuda reeling at 25 for three off 11 overs.

With a rain shower forcing the suspension of play for over 20 minutes, a revised target of 150 off 44 overs was then set by the umpires.

And that total seemed a long way off when Kwame Tucker returned to play over the top of a half volley from left arm spinner Kevin Sandher two balls after the resumption and was bowled leg stump.

Janeiro Tucker came to the wicket looking to be positive, smashing three boundaries in quick succession and trying to impose himself on the accurate Canadian spinners.

It was short-lived strategy, however, as another of Tucker?s attempted extra cover drives ended up back in the hands of a gleeful Davison ? 55 for five.

New man Irving Romaine forged ahead in the same vain, bludgeoning four consecutive fours off Sandher, leaving Bermuda needing to score 78 runs off 25 overs with five wickets still in hand.

But just when he looked to have swung the match in Bermuda?s favour, the vice-captain lost his head, lofting Davison down the ground with two men set back on the boundary and was pouched at mid-on for 25.

Minors and Hasan Durham then went about repairing the damage, until a total breakdown in communication between them led to the latter being run out by half the length of the pitch.

But from then on, Minors and Cann turned on the magic when their side needed them most to give Bermuda a fully deserved place in the final.

The selectors took a big gamble going into the match with only one out and out seamer in George O?Brien jr to accommodate Cann at number eight and hoping that the medium pace of Janeiro Tucker would suffice as the side?s fifth bowling option.

It was a tactic which, above all, required a positive response from O?Brien on his international debut, and to his great credit he rose to the occasion.

Though he looked a little nervous in his first over from the pavilion end, dropping far too short on three occasions and being pulled by the explosive Davison as a result, overall O?Brien was sensational ? suggesting Bermuda may well have found a seamer of genuine quality by bowling at a lively pace throughout and beating the bat regularly with late outswing.

And he showed impressive composure too, for having been swung away over square leg for six by Davison, he returned the very next ball to knock back the Australian?s off stump with an absolute snorter of a delivery which cut back sharply ? a first international scalp which will live long in the memory.

Three overs later he then bounced Canada?s other Australian import Stewart Heaney, whose ill-timed hook shot was plucked out of the air by a diving Cann at square leg.

Mukuddem, meanwhile, also struck in his second over when he nipped the ball away from the left-handed New Zealander Geoff Barnett to have him caught at point.

These wickets represented an enormously positive beginning, but Canada were still going at close to five an over after ten and the introduction of Dwayne Leverock at first change was always going to be crucial.

Right on the money from the start, Leverock was at his miserly best, recording the quite astonishing figures of one for 14 off his ten overs by pushing the ball through and extracting sharp, disconcerting turn from an immaculate length.

Five balls into his first over, a superb arm ball undid Haninder Dhillon, who played back expecting turn and was pinned plumb in front when the ball skidded straight on.

And with Leverock doing the business from the Media Centre end, Mukuddem?s switch to the other reaped immediate dividends, as he defeated Ashish Bagai with some alarming bounce outside the off-stump and induced a thin edge through to Dean Minors.

At 55 for five off 15 overs, Canada?s lack of outdoor batting practice ? their preparation for this tournament consisted only of a succession of indoor nets at the last minute ? had been mercilessly exposed for the second day running, though a heavy shower forced the players off the field in the 22nd over to disrupt Bermuda?s momentum.

But when play resumed 15 minutes later, Janeiro Tucker?s men began where they left off.

Bowling tidily, Hasan Durham finally got the right-handed Don Maxwell to lose patience as he advanced down the wicket and smacked his lofted drive right down Kwame Tucker?s throat at mid-on.

With the field defensively set and the emphasis on damage limitation, it was a horribly irresponsible shot from Maxwell ? mimicked in the very next over when Ashish Daniram found O?Brien at mid-on with another lofted drive off Janeiro Tucker.

But Bermuda certainly weren?t complaining, and Durham added to his wicket tally in the 35th over when he got one to turn on the advancing Sanjay Thuraisingam, who spooned the ball back to the bowler off a leading edge.

Limping to 100 at eight wickets down, Canada were on the ropes and the situation was crying out for O?Brien to return for his final three overs to provide the knockout blow.

Instead, the skipper preferred to bowl his own friendly medium pacers in tandem with Durham for six fruitless overs ? charity which allowed the Canadian duo of George Codrington and Sandher to survive for longer than they perhaps should have done.

Eventually, Sandher played on to his own stumps off Tucker for nine, though the last wicket pair of Codrington and Henry Osinde again proved stubborn, adding 36 valuable runs which at least gave the Canadian bowlers something reasonable to defend.

It was not to be enough, however, and Canada will return home today after only four days in the Caribbean.