Bhatti and Bagai put Canada in charge

Canada 149 for 6 (Bagai 72*) lead Bermuda 125 (Smith 52, Bhatti 8-40) by 24 runs Scorecard

Umar Bhatti leads Canada off after taking 8 for 40 © ICC

Bermuda fought back well after being bowled out cheaply on the first day of their Intercontinental Cup tie against Canada in Toronto. At the close of play, they had reduced Canada to 149 for 6 in reply to their 125.

With the expulsion of USA from the group, this match will probably decide which team will proceed to the semi-finals in October, and when left-arm seamer Umar Bhatti took 8 for 40 to rip through Bermuda's batting, it seemed Canada were well on course. Only a captain's innings of 52 from Clay Smith offered any resistance.

Canada started soundly, but after tea some tight bowling from Salem Mukaddem (3 for 34) and Dwayne Leverock (1 for 24) swung the balance of the game back towards the Bermudans as four wickets fell for six runs, reducing the hosts to 35 for 4.

Sunil Dhaniram and Ashish Bagai stopped the rot with a fifth-wicket stand of 55, but Hasan Durham bowled Dhaniram, and when he trapped Nicholas Ifill leg before soon after, Canada were in trouble on 92 for 6.

But Bagai cut loose in the final overs, adding 57 for the seventh wicket with Codrington to restore Canada's slight advantage.

For Bagai, who also took four catches, it was a great return to the national squad after being unavailable for the 2005 ICC Trophy in Ireland. He had originally been left out of the squad for this match because of work commitments, but when Desmond Chumney withdrew through injury, Bagai was summoned.