Canada played Nepal in their final group stage game. They struggled with the bat, making just 101/8 from their twenty overs but a fine performance in the field, highlighted by four run-outs saw them victors by 18 runs. They now play in one of the preliminary final knock out games on Thursday, likely against pre-tournament favourites, Ireland.
Coach Michael Dighton, interviewed after the match said “A hard fought win over a well drilled side in conditions that made for a scrappy affair. I thought that Jimmy played an important knock for us today and Junaid along with his spin partner in crime, Zahid “dirty sanchez” Hussain were excellent yet again. We are all looking forward to the challenge that awaits us in the next round. The dream is alive!”

Canada batted first and again opened with Cheema and Gunasekera. Cheema hit three boundaries but missed a straight ball from leg-spinner Gauchan and was bowled for 15. Yesterday’s hero Gunasekera was caught at point for just a single, and Canada were struggling at 17/2. Kumar and Patel on 24 then fell to successive balls, Patel trying for a big hit, then Kumar run out – 41/4. Hansra and Gordon took a couple of overs to play themselves in, then went on the attack, each striking sixes in the twelfth and thirteenth over. They struggled to accelerate the scoring; Gordon was leg before for 15, and Baidwan was run out in the next over, leaving Canada at 77/6 with four overs remaining. Hansra steered the innings towards three figures, which they achieved from the final ball. Hansra made 29 in 34 balls out of a final total of 101/8.
Nepal needed to go all out with the bat to over-take Canada’s net run-rate and grab third place. They showed their intent by going taking 11 runs from Osinde’s first over. Cheema turned to the spin of Junaid Siddiqui and Zahid Hussian to slow the run-rate. This paid off as Siddiqui took two wickets in the fourth over, and Hussain struck in the fifth – Nepal were 26/3 after five overs. Nepal’s slide continued as Junaid Siddiqui’s next over yielded two more wickets through a catch and a run out. Baidwan got into the act taking a wicket with his first ball, and after 10 overs Nepal were 42/6. Vesawkar batted well to take Nepal towards the target but then two run outs in the 18th over left them 23 runs from the last two overs with only one wicket in hand. The fourth run out of the innings gave Canada a win by 18 runs, and a place in one of the preliminary finals against Ireland.

CricInfo scorecard