HAMILTON, Bermuda (CMC) – Sussex all-rounder Delray Rawlins’ quick-fire 49 helped  guide Bermuda to a six-wicket victory over the Cayman Islands, while Canada edged their North American neighbours United States by four wickets on day three of the week-long quadrangular ICC Twenty20 World Cup Qualifier Americas final on Wednesday.

Rawlins, 21, smashed five sixes and a four in his 31-ball knock, adding 70 runs for the fourth wicket with Kamau Leverock (28 not out), who plays for Nottinghamshire Seconds, to take the game away from Cayman, who had earlier subsided from a promising 85 for one to 116 for nine off their 20 overs.

After Cayman elected to bat at White Hill Field, Durban-born opener Chad Hauptfleisch hit three fours and a six in his 42, putting on 32 for the first wicket with Sri Lanka-born Sacha De Alwis, who made 19, and adding a further 53 for the second wicket with Darren Cato, who made 20.

However, the introduction of fifth-change Onias Bascome halted the Caribbean side in their tracks.

The medium pacer, later named Man-of-the-Match, claimed four for 10 from three overs while off-break bowler Rodney Rott chipped in with two for 15. Opener bowler George O’Brien returned to claim two wickets in the final over to finish with two for 15.

An early wobble left Bermuda – whose team players were all born on the island – struggling at six for two, and although Bascome was third out at 36 for 22, Rawlins, who earlier took three catches, was quickly into his stride with a flurry of boundaries before falling one short of his second half-century of the tournament.

Alessandro Morris, a 36-year-old Jamaican off-break bowler, was the pick of the Cayman attack with two for 17 from four overs.

Canada, with a superior run rate, joined Bermuda on five points after squeezing home with five balls to spare after Steven Taylor (38) and former West Indies batsman Xavier Marshall (22) helped guide the U.S. to 144 for six.

A half-century by Man-of-the-Match Navneet Dhaliwal laid the foundation of Canada’s reply, but they slipped to 112 for six at the start of the 17th over as leg-break bowler Timil Patel made serious inroads with four for 27 from four overs.

Guyana-born Dillon Heyliger proved to be Canada’s hero, teaming up with Hamza Tariq (11 not out) to steer Canada home. Heyliger’s 11-ball unbeaten 23 included 13 runs off the penultimate over, delivered by Cameron Gannon.

Tariq then dispatched Saurabh Netravalkar’s first ball of the final over for four.

The top two teams from this week’s tournament will earn places in the final qualifier to be held in the United Arab Emirates later in the year ahead of next year’s 16-team T20 World Cup in Australia.