Holland has stormed into outright favouritism for the 2001 ICC Trophy tournament with a decisive 38-run victory over number one seed Scotland here in Toronto today.

It wasn't necessarily a pretty game between the two powers of the competition at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club but rarely in their cricketing history could the Dutchmen have scored a more important win. This one will not only earn them a crucial psychological edge over Scotland but will also have them entering next week's all-important Super League phase of the tournament with at least a two point break on the field.

Largely, it was the string of solid contributions from their top and middle order batsmen from which they earned their win. Having been invited to bat first in overcast conditions, they staunchly resisted the front-line Scottish trio of James Brinkley (2/43), John Blain (1/34) and Asim Butt (0/30), giving up just three wickets to them on the way to a challenging total of 206/8.

Continuing a strong run of performances in the tournament, the Netherlands attack then made the twin tasks of scoring runs and preserving wickets especially difficult as the Scottish reply began. From a scoreline of 33/3 in the fifteenth over, captain George Salmond (28) and Drew Parsons (26) ignited a rally but, when they departed in successive overs in the middle stages of the innings, the writing was on the wall. Blain (30) hit out powerfully near the end to reduce the eventual margin of victory but did not have enough support to counter the work performed by medium pacer Tim de Leede (3/30) and new ball bowler Roland Lefebvre (2/23).

At Ross Lord, a collapse of horrendous proportions saw Bermuda tumble to a 57-run defeat at the hands of the United States of America. It had been a close struggle between the two until leg spinner Javed Nasir (5/24) began a job of mopping up the middle order and the tail that prompted the final seven wickets to crash for the addition of 24 runs.

Needing to score at a rate of only four runs an over, Bermuda certainly made a satisfactory-enough beginning. If anything, it actually looked as if it was the team with the upper hand for as long as its hard-hitting captain Charlie Marshall (62) remained at the crease. All it took was one mistake, though - in the form of a lofted shot straight down the proverbial throat of deep mid wicket - and everything began to unravel.

Despite the impact of strong contributions from David Hoillet (43) and Faoud Bacchus (38), the USA total of 200 initially seemed to have left them vulnerable to defeat. Alas, they have now definitely qualified for the Super League phase of the competition and will enter that section of the competition with high hopes.

The foundations for Canada's 179-run win over Fiji, easily its most comfortable of the tournament to date, were laid when its upper order batsmen embarked on a run spree from close to the outset of the day. Ishwar Maraj (60) and Des Chumney (58) led the way before Joe Harris (75*), Ian Billcliff (41) and John Davison (29*) pummeled their opponents into near submission with a succession of shots into and over the boundary on both sides of the small Ajax ground.

As well as Canada had played in amassing the mammoth score of 315/4, it remained hard to account for quite how a highly-regarded Fijian attack made so many basic errors. Even in its opening two losses in this tournament, its bowlers had acquitted themselves well, adhering to a generally disciplined line and length. Today, they were ragged, their most obvious problem pitching too short on a strip that contained few terrors for the batsmen.

The Fijians used their third different opening batting pairing of the competition but even that did not get them very far. Tight medium pace bowling from Sanjay Thuraisingham (3/20) reduced them to 53/6 at one point before Joji Bulabalavu (31) and Maika Kamikamica (27*) showed they were made of sterner stuff and contributed defiant runs in the lower order.

Fiji's hopes of progressing in the tournament now hinge on a must-win game against the United Arab Emirates on Friday. The winner of that match will move through to a playoff contest against Uganda on Saturday; the loser will return home.

Denmark meanwhile sewed up top spot in Group 1B with a determined 12-run victory over Ireland at Maple Leaf. A wonderful innings from Aftab Ahmed (86*) was the guiding force behind the win, his controlled hitting in the late overs allowing the Danes to race to a score of 231/6 from their maximum 46 overs.

The Irishmen made a slow start, losing two early wickets and finding the job of scoring quickly a struggle through the opening overs. Brothers Dominick (50) and Ed (40) Joyce revived the cause in an enterprising 84-run partnership, but Amjad Khan (3/39) and Morten Andersen (2/40) continued to make life difficult. Not even a whirlwind 57-run stand between Derek Heasley (40) and Kyle McCallan (25) could alter the balance.

In the final match of the day, Nepal prevailed in a two-run thriller over Germany to open its winning account at ICCT 2001.

As was the case across the way at Maple Leaf, a wet outfield made for an over reduction and Nepal's score of 175/9 from its 48 overs was accordingly better than it appeared on paper. Around an excellent innings from Dipendra Chaudhary (52), fast bowler Abdul Hamid Bhatti (5/31) and off spinner Hans Christian Petersen (1/20) played key roles with the ball.

Following an excellent start from Shamas Uddin Khan (68) and Tayyab Rathore (35), it was leg spinner Paras Luniya (4/23) who inspired the victory with an excellent spell in which he consistently confounded the batsmen. A 20-run ninth wicket stand tilted the odds back in Germany's favour, but Nepal then hit back again to claim wickets in both the penultimate and the closing over of the innings to eke out its nailbiting win.

The Nepalese preparations for the tournament were thrown into last-minute turmoil when they encountered a series of problems in obtaining Canadian entry visas in the lead-up to the event and their mere appearance on the field of play had been considered improbable a fortnight ago. That they have been competitive in most of their games has been a credit to them in itself.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd