Abstract: There is provided a two stroke internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder and a piston. The cylinder has a cylinder head, a wall and a crankcase. The wall extends between the cylinder head and the crankcase. The cylinder head has a first opening and a second opening. The piston is mounted for reciprocation in the cylinder. The cylinder head, the wall and the piston form a combustion chamber. The engine further includes a direct injector and a spark plug. The direct injector is mounted in the first opening for injecting fuel into the combustion chamber. The spark plug is mounted in the second opening for igniting a fuel-air mixture in the combustion chamber. The engine also includes an inlet port and an exhaust port. The inlet port and the exhaust port are in the wall of the cylinder. The exhaust port is exposed by the piston before the inlet port on an exhaust cycle so a pressurized exhaust gas is substantially exhausted before the inlet port opens.