Canada and Bermuda record convincing victories in Americas U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Toronto

Canada and Bermuda lived up to their pre-tournament favourites' tag by recording convincing victories in the five-team round-robin Americas U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Toronto on Tuesday.

Canada opened its campaign with a nine-wicket victory over Argentina while Bermuda carved out its second successive win by beating the Cayman Islands by seven wickets.

The winner of this event will join the ICC's 10 Full Members, hosts Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea and Ireland (which recently qualified from the East-Asia Pacific and European Regions respectively) at the 16-team ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup to be played from 17 February to 2 March 2008 in Malaysia.

Canada, hoping to return to the main event after missing out on the 2006 tournament in Sri Lanka, bowled out Argentina for 64 in 28 overs and then raced to victory in 9.5 overs for the loss of one wicket. The second straight defeat ended Argentina's hopes of qualifying for the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup.

The bowling honours were equally shared by Asif Manjra (3-5), Usman Iqubal (3-16) and Pratik Patel (3-26). Opener Ruvindu Gunasekera then made sure that Canada kept its run-rate as high as possible by belting five fours in a rapid 33-ball 35.

Elsewhere, Bermuda, which opened the tournament with a 195-run victory over the Bahamas on Monday, won the toss and put the Cayman Islands into bat who managed 165 in 48.2 overs.

The Cayman captain Ramon Sealy once again top scored for his team with a 126-ball 67 that included five fours. He had scored an unbeaten 76 against Bahamas.

Malachi Jones was the pick of the Bermuda bowlers with figures of 9-1-38-4 while Stefan Kelly bagged 2-13.

In turn, Bermuda achieved the target in 30.4 overs for the loss of three wickets. Jones backed up his excellent bowling performance with an unbeaten 41 from 27 balls with six fours and one six. Together with captain Rodney Trott (37 not out), Jones put on 79 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket after Bermuda was reduced to 87-3.

After Wednesday's rest day, Canada takes on the Bahamas and Argentina meets Bermuda on Thursday.

Scores in brief: Bermuda beat Cayman Islands by seven wickets Cayman Islands: 165 in 48.2 overs (Ramon Sealy 67; Vincent Ebanks 38; Malachi Jones 4-38; Stefan Kelly 2-13) Bermuda: 166-3 in 30.4 overs (Malachi Jones 41 not out; Rodney Trott 37 not out; Khiry Furbert 24)

Canada beat Argentina by nine wickets Argentina: 64 in 28 overs (Arif Manjra 3-5; Usman Iqubal 3-16; Pratik Patel 3-26) Canada: 67-1 in 9.5 overs (Ruvindu Gunasekera 35 not out)

The ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup is a vital part of the ICC Development Program and provides a vehicle for the best young cricketers in the world to parade their skills.

Many of the future stars of the game experience their first true international exposure at this tournament and players such as Brian Lara, Michael Atherton, Yuvraj Singh, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Cairns, Michael Clarke, Graeme Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya have used the event as a stepping stone to full international honours.

First staged in Australia in 1988, the tournament was initially organised on an occasional basis, but since the commencement of the ICC Development Program in 1997 it has become a biennial fixture.

The 2010 ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup will be held in Kenya while the 2012 tournament will be staged in Canada and UAE will host the 2014 edition.