Canada were knocked out of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier by Ireland, comprehensively beaten by 10 wickets in the Preliminary final. They struggled against the Irish bowling making 108/8, and then had no answer to Paul Stirling, whose fastest ever Irish half century saw Ireland to victory inside 10 overs. It was a disappointing end to the tournament for Canada, who were not competitive against a good Irish side.

Canada batted first and lost Patel to Johnson in the first over. Johnson and Rankin are a high class opening pair and Canada struggled. Kumar (17) hit three boundaries before being caught behind, and then spinner Dockerell bowled Hansra and had Gunasekera caught trying a big shot. Cheema regrettably failed yet again, mis-timing a pull to mid-on, and only Gordon (23) showed much resistance as Canada made just 108/8.
Canada had defended a low total against Nepal but it was woefully inadequate against Stirling and Porterfield. The Cricket Europe commentator described the rout:-
” Ireland needing barely half an hour to knock off those 107 runs with both batsmen in total control. 20 boundaries, three of them sixes left Canada a well beaten team, three of their bowlers with an economy rate in double figures” .

Overall Canada’s tournament showed they are just below the top ranks of associate nations, unable to compete with the best teams, as shown by a one sided loss to Afghanistan and this match. There were some good performances from the young players, and there is plenty of opportunity for development. The absence of Chohan and Bagai was keenly felt, and Cheema’s repeated failures with the bat have gone too long to be considered a temporary loss of form.
Scorecard