Canada opened the Intercontinental Cup campaign against last year’s champions at King City.
Canada entered the final day with a lead of just 13, and only three wickets in hand. Baidwan and Chohan however showed great patience in building a useful partnership, bringing up the 200 after an hour of play. Chohan batted for over an hour for his 24 and he and Baidwan put on 52 before he was dismissed, caught by the keeper. Number 10 Zahid Hussain played no shot to a straight ball – lbw for a duck. Baidwan reached his maiden first class half-century from 145 balls but then edged to slip to complete the innings. Afghanistan needed just 69 to win which they accomplished with the loss of one wicket. The two teams meet again on Sunday for a one-day match.

CricInfo scorecard

Day 1 report
Canada won the toss and chose to field. Osinde and Chohan opened the bowling, and the Afghani openers made a slow start, scoring just 5 off the opening 5 overs. Osinde made the first breakthrough, when Karim Sadiq edged an outswinger to the keeper, and Khurram Chohan caught Noor Ali Zadran from his own bowling to leave Afghanistan at 24/2. Mohammad Shahzad (56) and Nawroz Mangal put on 82 but both were out just before lunch, at which point Afghanistan were 106/4.
Afghanistan made slow but steady progress after lunch, until two further wickets fell with the score on 151. Another good partnership of 74 quashed Canada’s hopes of restricting Afghanistan to less than 200, Mirwais Ashraf making 48 before Osinde had him leg-before. Samiullah Shenwar contributed 70 before Zahid Hussain had him caught for his third wicket and Canada wrapped up the innings for 293.
Canada made a poor start to their reply losing three wickets for just 15. Gunasekera was perhaps unfortunate to be judged lbw, but Patel and Surkari played shots perhaps more suited to the shorter forms of the game. Gordon, on first class debut edged to the slips and Canada were 21/4 at close of play.
Day 2
No play due to rain
Day 3 report
Captain Jimmy Hansra made an emphatic start to the proceedings with an off-drive for four from the first ball of the day but he and Baidwan were more circumspect as they attempted to build a partnership. They had more than doubled the total before Baidwan tried to pull a ball only to loft a catch to square leg – the third wicket to fall to poorly executed pull-shots in the Canadian innings. Hansra’s promising innings came to a halt when he was caught at mid-wicket for 19 and Canada were 56/6. Hamza Tariq struck a boundary but then edged a catch behind, aiming a big drive. A poor first session for Canada ended when Khurram Chohan attempted a big hit and skied the ball to slip. Canada were 81/8 at lunch, with 7 wickets going to medium pacer Hamid Hassan. Zeeshan Siddiqi, accompanied by Henry Osinde, took Canada past the hundred mark, and reached a fifty on Canadian first class debut from 63 balls; he made 52 before being judged out lbw. The score at that point was 125, with Canada still needing 18 to avoid the follow-on. This proved too much for the last pair, and Canada were all out for 130. Canada made the worst possible start to their second innings when Gunasekera was out first ball, lbw to Hassan for the second time in the match. Patel soon followed, playing in a manner best suited for the shorter forms of the game, and Gordon made just 9 as Canada fell to 30/3. Hansra fell with the score on 52, but Surkari and Siddiqui staged a recovery. Surkari was dismissed in unusual circumstances, obstructing the field (he overbalanced and fell into the keeper who was prevented from attempting to catch him), and Canada were 95/5. Hamza Tariq batted well for his 52, hitting three sixes, but he was out shortly before stumps, with Canada 176/7.