Canada played Namibia in their final round robin match of the WCL division 2 tournament. A day that started with Canada threatening to make it to the tournament final ended with them facing relegation to Division Three. A strong start from Canada raised hopes that they could hand Namibia a big defeat but with a middle order collapse – 7 wickets falling for 29 runs – these hopes were replaced with concerns about finishing above Kenya who were on their way to beating Nepal. The tail end contributed useful runs and Canada defended 224. Namibia’s reply got off to a quick start and Canada lost by 8 wickets. The loss, combined with big wins for the Netherlands and Kenya, consigned Canada to 5th place on net run rate, and relegation to the lower division, a huge blow for cricket in Canada
Namibia won the toss and put Canada in. Cheema got Canada off to a stunning start, hitting five of the first six balls of the match for four. Scoring entirely in boundaries, he made 28 from 13 balls before being caught behind. Wijeratne and Kumar kept on the attack but the scoring rate inevitably slowed somewhat. They brought up the hundred from fifteen overs. Kumar made 43, and the partnership was 70 before he was caught. Canada then collapsed as Gunasekera was bowled for one, Hansra followed in the same over, Dhaliwal made just 3 and Hamza Tariq 2. Wijeratne completed his half century but then he was bowled, and with Dutta contributing just 2, Canada had gone from 107/1 to 138/8. Craig Williams did the damage, taking five wickets that fell. Dhindsa and Soraine (19) provided some useful resistance with a 48-run partnership, and Pervez (19) helped Dhindsa (43*) take the total to 224, and batting out their overs. Williams finished with 6/37.
Namibia made rapid progress in their reply, reaching 62/0 from the first ten overs, and 132/0 from 22. The first wicket didn’t fall until Namibia had 157 on the board, and the second at 186 in the 32nd over. Canada made no further inroads, and lost by 8 wickets in the 41st over.
CricInfo scorecard
In other matches Nepal got off to a poor start against Kenya, losing their first three wickets for 18 but recovered to total 194. The Netherlands bowled Uganda out for 79, and chased down the target in 6.4 overs for a massive improvement in net run rate. Cricket Europe summed up the situation at the innings break:-
“So all things possible as the Nepalese and Kenyans go to lunch. A Kenyan win will see the Dutch through, as will a heavy win for Canada over Namibia. Nepal need a win or the same heavy defeat for Namibia, but too heavy and the Canadians could yet go past them. But Kenya will need to post their best score of the tournament to beat Nepal, and a Nepal vs Namibia final still looks the most likely outcome.”
Kenya scored at a good rate in chasing Nepal’s total reaching 139/4 from 27 overs, and won by 5 wickets with 15 overs in hand. This ensured a place in the final for the Netherlands, and left Canada playing Uganda for 5th/ 6th place, and a future in Division 3. The Netherlands did what Canada couldn’t do – a big win to overtake Nepal on net run rate, and they will be promoted to Division 1. In what was overall a very even tournament, Canada performed poorly against the top three teams, and although the final margin was close, cannot complain that they merited better.
Final table
P Pts NRR
Namibia 5 8 1.025
Netherlands 5 6 0.642
Nepal 5 6 0.388
Kenya 5 4 -0.197
Canada 5 4 -0.317
Uganda 5 2 -1.599