Canada aims for semi final berth in ICC Intercontinental Cup

Canada faces a must-win match against Bermuda this week to secure a place in the semi-finals of the ICC Intercontinental Cup.

Currently holding second place in the Americas group, Canada (30.5 points) sits behind table leaders the USA (47 points), while Bermuda (16.5 points) faces an improbable task to overtake its regional rivals for the semi-final berth.

The three-day match between Canada and Bermuda commences in Toronto from Friday (13 August).

Scotland was the first Associate Member to qualify for November's semi-final stage of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, after defeating Ireland by eight wickets in Dublin last week.

With 48.5 points, Scotland finished ahead of European group rivals Ireland (43 points) and Holland (27 points).

The top-ranked team from the matches played in each of the four regions progress to the semi-finals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in November.

The Africa and Asia semi-final berths will be decided in the coming months as Malaysia hosts the UAE in Kuala Lumpur from 17-19 September, and Kenya and Namibia do battle in Nairobi from 1-3 October.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup is a new tournament for ICC Associate Member countries, and sees the introduction of a first-class competition for countries below Test match level.

With innovative playing conditions including a points system specifically created for the event, the ICC Intercontinental Cup gives players the chance to develop their skills in the longer version of the game, and assist in the progression to the next level of competition.

Teams receive 14 points for a win plus any bonus points accumulated, while teams that draw or lose a match receive only their bonus points. Only in the event of a tie will teams pick up seven additional points.

Bonus points can be accumulated in both innings with a maximum of six batting points per innings awarded on the basis of 0.5 points for every 25 runs scored up to 300 runs. A maximum of five bowling points are available per innings allocated at 0.5 points per wicket taken.

To encourage teams to play for a result, the first innings of each side is restricted to 90 overs, unless the team batting first does not use its 90 overs. In that case the team batting second can bat for its 90 overs plus the overs short of 90 not used by the team batting first.

A minimum of 105 overs must be bowled on the opening two days of the match.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup is part of the High Performance arm of the ICC's Development Program, launched in 1997 to develop cricket as a global sport.

Since its inception, the Development Program has helped the number of ICC members increase by over 40 in the past seven years. The ICC now has 92 member countries; 10 Full, 27 Associate and 55 Affiliate members.

The remaining schedule for the ICC Intercontinental Cup is:

For more information on the ICC Intercontinental Cup, including scorecards, averages and points tables, visit the ICC website at www.icc-intercontinentalcup.com.