Bhatti bowls Canada to nine-wicket win

Canada 588 (Samad 119, Bhatti 50, Steede 4-127) and 60 for 1 beat Bermuda 334 and 310 (Smith 84, Romaine 65, Bhatti 6-104) by 186 runs
Scorecard

A six-wicket haul by Umar Bhatti, the left-arm seamer, led Canada to a comfortable nine-wicket win on the final day of the Intercontinental Cup match. Bermuda, 68 for 1 overnight, managed only 310 in the second innings, leaving Canada an easy target of 57, which was knocked off in just 11.2 overs.

That victory will restore some much-needed confidence to Canada after their recent defeats at the hands of Kenya. And even more pleasingly, their batting looked stronger than it has done for a while. Their coach Andy Pick was delighted to see his players finally scoring the runs he feels they are capable of making.

Bhatti finished with 10 wickets in the match, repeating the feat that he'd achieved against Kenya two weeks ago. He also chipped in with 50 with the bat, extending Canada's score to a mammoth 588. Henry Osinde, the medium-pacer, managed 3 for 58 and provided Bhatti with good support.

Bermuda began the day positively, losing only one wicket in the morning session. Irving Romaine and Clay Smith took the total to 135 for 2 by lunch enabling Bermuda to harbour hopes of a draw. After lunch, the pair continued its strong batting but Bhatti made a breakthrough with the score on 186. Romaine, attempting to hook, was caught on the boundary by substitute fielder Naresh Patel.

However, Bermuda lost their last seven wickets for just 123 runs, with the wily Bhatti snapping up five of them. The victory put Canada on top of the table, leading the qualifying group with a maximum 40 points from two matches. Their final final group match is against Netherlands in South Africa in December.