When the ICC T20 World Cup starts on June 1, 2024 with its opening match at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas, Canada's national cricket team will take the field for the first time in a shortened format World Cup.
While the Maple Leafers have competed in four 50-over World Cups, this opening match against the USA marks the culmination of the first successful Canadian qualification for the T20 showpiece.
Alongside the other nations that have made it through the qualifying process, online sportsbooks expect Canada to make up the numbers instead of competing for the title. In qualifying for the finals, Team Canada, even as the rank outsiders alongside Uganda with betting odds of +250000, should be viewed as a success in itself and a sign of the progress cricket has made in the country.
Canadian sports bettors wanting to wager on the Maple Leafers or any other team at the ICC T20 World Cup are legally able to do so through the best sports betting sites in Canada.
"It is legal for Canadians to use regulated offshore betting sites from anywhere in Canada,” says Neil Roarty, gambling industry expert at Best Sports Betting Canada. “In 2016, Quebec passed a bill that tried to effectively ban offshore sportsbooks and casinos by enforcing an IP block on them. However, in 2018, the Superior Court of Quebec ruled that the bill was unconstitutional, ensuring that anyone in the province could continue using offshore gambling sites”.
However, Canadian fans might instead want to back teams with a longer cricketing history and more favourable odds.
How Team Canada qualified
Team Canada qualified for the ICC's T20 showpiece by winning the T20 World Cup Americas Qualifying competition, beating Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Panama in the Regional Final.
The final started poorly for the Maple Leafers as Bermuda stunned the visitors at White Hill Field, winning the opening match by 86 runs. It would be the only finals loss for Canada, though, with the team recording overwhelming victories, all by more than 100-run margins, over the Cayman Islands (twice) and Panama. The away fixture against Panama ended in a no-result due to weather conditions.
The last Finals fixture was the return match against Bermuda at the National Stadium in Hamilton to decide the competition winner. A much-improved Team Canada avenged its opening loss, beating Bermuda by 39 runs and qualifying for the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies.
Team Canada’s World Cup opposition
With only two teams progressing to the Top Eight second phase, the Maple Leafers will be competing in Group A. Canada will appear alongside tournament favourites (according to many online gambling options) India (+333), Pakistan (+900), Ireland (+25000) and the USA (+100000) and will do well to avoid propping up the table.
Coach Henry Osinde will look to his squad's top players to perform in Group A in hopes of cementing a Canadian win in its first T20 World Cup appearance. Batsmen Aaron Johnson and Navneet Dhaliwal will expect to score most of Canada's runs while left-arm spinner Saad Bin Zafar and seamer Kaleem Sana will look to take regular wickets. Allrounders Dillon Heyliger and Harsh Thaker must play crucial roles if Team Canada is to succeed.
Whether Team Canada records a victory at the tournament or not, having made it from the Great White North to the World Cup stage to take on cricket's global elite is sure to provide some memorable moments to thrill Canadian fans and inspire the next generation of cricketers back home.
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