Ontario, June 22: The Canadian men’s cricket team has qualified for next year’s ICC T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka after defeating Bahamas by seven wickets in the Americas Qualifiers here.
Thanks to their fifth successive victory in as many games, Canada, who had also featured in last year’s men’s T20 World Cup in the Americas, have joined defending champions India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, United States, West Indies, Ireland, New Zealand and Pakistan, in the 20-team event.“Seven more teams — two from Europe Qualifier (to be played from July 5-11, 2025), two from Africa Qualifier (to be played from September 19 to October 4) and three from Asia-EAP Qualifier (to be played from October 1-17) — will join the Men’s T20 World Cup through the Regional Qualifiers,” said ICC in a statement.
In their final game played at the Maple Leaf North-West Ground in King City here, Canada achieved the winning target of 57 in the sixth over.Electing to bowl first, Canada’s pace-spin duo of Kaleem Sana (3/6) and Shivam Sharma (3/16) bundled out Bahamas in 19.5 overs. They then wrapped up the match in 5.3 overs, with Dilpreet Bajwa smashing an unbeaten 36 to seal a dominant win and World Cup qualification.
The side led by Nicholas Kirton had started their campaign with a 110-run win against Bermuda, which was followed by a 59-run victory against Cayman Islands and a 10-wicket thrashing of Bahamas in the first round of games.
In their second outing against Cayman Islands Canada scored another easy victory after putting together 82 runs on the board, and eventually winning the the rain-curtailed game by 42 runs. (PTI)
