CANADA CLOSER TO WORLD CUP BERTH
By Blarnee Stoned
Exclusive to CanadaCricketOnline
EGLINTON, Northern Ireland: Canada moved a step closer to a berth in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean after pipping defending champions the Netherlands by two wickets with just one ball to spare in a do-or-die rain-shortened 35-overs game.
The 2001 third pace finishers now must beat bottom-of-the-barrel Papua-New Guinea in their final first round game on Thursday while hoping that favourites Scotland defeat the Dutchmen. That way Canada automatically qualifies as one of the top four. A rainout, or any other result, means resorting to run rate and a complicated playoff formula to determine the fifth spot at the World Cup.
Opener Desmond Chumney, who had struggled to find form all season, chose this big occasion to stand and deliver. His 64 was more than one-third of the Duckworth-Lewis revised response of 160 to the Netherlands 187-9 off 35 overs. Rain, and bad light stoppage, had further reduced the Canadian innings to just 30 overs. Chumney was rock-solid in defence but anything in the slot, or a tad short, was lofted into the outfield for boundaries.
His return to form couldn't have come at a more appropriate time as skipper John Davison holed out for 2 to Billy Stelling (3-30) the best of the Dutch bowlers. Then Zubin Surkari, his confidence in deep deficit, failed for the fourth straight time to get into double figures. This time he was caught fishing outside the off stump. But the conistent Ian Billcliff, who had earlier pouched three catches, proved an ideal foil for Chumney and the pair raced to 105-2 before the stoppage.
Then just when it seemed the Canadians were cruising to victory they lost the plot. First Chuimney went airborne once too often and was brilliant caught by Eddie Schiferli on the squareleg boundary; Sunil Dhaniram essayed a lofted drive first ball to midwicket but the heavier soaked ball merely landed in the safe hands of skipper Luuk van Troost well short of the boundary; wicketkeeper Pubudu Dassanakaye completed an emninetly forgettable day copping a first ball duck snicking to his opposite number Jerroen Smits. Suddenly Canada was in deep waters at 128-6.
It was left to Don Maxwell (15) and George Codrington (13), each with a huge six and cheeky singles, to bring Canada to within eight runs of victory. But when both fell at 152 the tension mounted as the defending champions, who had been outplayed most of the day, suddenly sensed that all was not lost.
But Sanjay Thuraisingham and Kevin Sandher kept their cool and when Sandher flicked Schiferli's bouncer to the backward squareleg boundary for four the Dutch despair and the Canadian relief was palpable.
Earlier the Canadians put the Dutchmen under pressure after winning the toss. The Dutch innings sputtered at 96-6 as all six bowlers used shared the pickings. But Feiko Kloppenburg (57) proved the lynchpin of a lower-order recovery. The Canadian fielding was excellent except for Dassanayake who grassed two regulation catches and, as he did in the Scotland game, underarmed a throw to the bowler's end while fully gloved, the ball arriving well after the batsman had raced almost the full length of the pitch.
Now with just Papua New Guinea to play at Downpatrick the Canadians will struggle to focus on their own game as their fate rests as much on Scotland's much-awaited match-up with the Netherlands at Stormont. The Canadians, who have won their three games by the narrowest of margins, will be no doubt mindful that their opponents on Thursday still have local brew left over back in Moresby from celebrating their 1982 ICC Trophy win over them.