Canada v Kenya for 11th place on Tuesday
Canada beat Italy by five wickets with four balls to spare in Sunday’s ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Canada held Italy to 104 for six, then overcame another burst of three early wickets from Gayashan Munasinghe thanks to a patient stand of 73 for the fourth wicket between Rizwan Cheema (34) and Jimmy Hansra (32). There was a slight scare as Hansra fell to the last ball of the sixteenth over and Cheema followed next ball, but Damodar Daesrath and Raza ur-Rehman restored order and garner the 18 runs needed to complete a second Canadian Group A win.

Canada moved up the Group A standings on a permanent basis above Uganda, who lost to Namibia by 38 runs on Sunday. Canada held a ‘temporary’ lead above the USA in the standings immediately the match with Italy concluded. This placing became permanent a few hours later after the UAE beat the UAE by 14 runs. The associated outcome is that Canada will play Kenya in the match to decide 11th place on Tuesday in Sharjah.
Jeremy Gordon took two early wickets and spinner Junaid Siddiqui had the potentially dangerous opener Gareth Berg caught for 5 as Italy stumbled to 15 for three in the fifth over. Siddiqui completed his four overs for just 17 runs, and when Hiral Patel had Carl Sandri caught at the wicket by Ashish Bagai for 9 in the eleventh over the Italians were struggling on 42 for four wickets. Joy Perera then fell lbw to Abzal Dean some six balls and three runs later.
Italian skipper Damian Crowley lead a sixth wicket recovery with Alessandro Bonaro (16) that produced 39 runs. Crowley was 61 not out from 59 balls when Italy ran out of overs and the scoreboard reading 104 for six. Jeremy Gordon picked up Bonaro’s wicket and ended with three for fifteen from four overs.
Munasinghe had taken three early wickets in Italy’s win against the UAE on Saturday and followed with similar success on Sunday. Ruvindu Gunasekera was lbw to Munasinghe from the first ball of the Canadian innings, Hiral Patel hit a boundary but was then caught for 9 during Munasinghe’s second over. Captain Ashish Bagai was bowled for 2 at the start of Munasinghe’s third over. This left Canada struggling on 14 for three wickets.
Rizwan Cheema, who opened the innings, hit a six off the last ball of Munasinghe’s third over (23 for three). But it was mostly steady progress as he and Jimmy Hansra rallied the score to 49 for three by the ten over mid-point mark. A single from the first ball of the eleventh over took Canada to 50 and the over concluded with Cheema hitting a boundary followed by four leg-byes. Light was beginning to appear in the Canadian innings, but a cloud appeared as Hansra was caught at the wicket for 32 (3×4’s) to conclude the sixteenth over. Cheema was bowled for 34 (1×6’s, 2×4’s) by Italian captain Crowley off the next ball.
Damodar Daesrath and Raza ur-Rehman picked up some singles and the last over arrived with Canada needing five runs for victory, and Italy’s Munagsinghe with the chance to become a bowling hero for Italy. A single for Daesrath was followed by a boundary from Raza and Canada had won the game with four balls to spare.
Several minutes later came news that Uganda’s innings had closed on 87 for nine chasing Namibia’s 125 for seven, so Canada was certain to overtake Uganda in the Group A standings.
Then the UAE gave a rather uneven batting display against the USA in a game with a later start time. UAE captain Khurram Khan’s 61 not out proved the decisive knock of the game. UAE 151 for five (20 overs) while USA ended on 137 for seven. Opening bat Steve Taylor top-scored for the USA with 42.
So Canada will face Kenya in a match to decide eleventh place in Sharjah. This is a major disappointment for Canada, given the hope of seeking a place in the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh before this current qualifier began.
After losing the opening game to the USA, Canada lost to eventual Group A winners Ireland by two runs. There is quite a disaparity between Canada’s loss to Hong Kong by 53 runs, and Ireland sealing top-spot in the Group and an automatic berth in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 with a 75 run win against Hong Kong.
Kenya who won three and lost four games in Group B almost blew hotter and colder on different days in this current tournament than Canada.
It seems a long time ago that Canada beat Afghanistan in a warm-up game before the tournament proper began. Afghanistan began with a loss to the Netherlands, but battled back and sealed top place on Sunday in Group B and with it the other automatic place in the World Twenty20 tournament next year. So, for now, Canada must look for a consolation win against Kenya and then re-focus for the 50-over World Cup qualifier in New Zealand early next year.
　
Eddie Norfolk