Canada took on Nepal as thew World Cricket League tournament continues. Canada’s batting collapsed against seamer Karan, and the final total of 114 represented something of a recovery from 46/6. Canada struck early, with two wickets in the first over, but Nepal used less than half their allotted overs in recording a one sided seven wicket win. Canada are currently in last place, with Uganda and Namibia left to play.
Canada won the toss and chose to bat, only to lose Kumar for a duck from the fourth ball of the match. Cheema hit a six but was then caught and bowled, and Wijeratne followed for a golden duck – 15/3 after just three overs. Gunasekera soon followed, caught behind for 12, and the batting hero of the previous match, Dhaliwal made just 2 – half the wickets gone for 22 runs. Karan was the main destroyer, taking 5/26 from 10 overs. Hamza Tariq made 10, and Hansra concentrated on survival. He took 103 balls to amass 22 before being caught. Dutta resisted for 60 balls in making 20 as Canada inched towards three figures. Desai (11) and Dhindsa (25*) provided some life to the innings as the overs would down, putting on 28 for the 9th wicket. Canada were bowled out for 199 in the final over.
Canada put Nepal under immediate pressure as Dhindsa struck in his first over, having Budayair caught, and then a run out from the next ball had Nepal at 0/2. Khadka and Malla however batted steadily and shut the Canadians out. Khadka accelerated in a bid to improve Nepal’s net run rate, making 77 before he was dismissed with the scores level.
The loss is disappointing, and its one sided nature even more so. In other matches Kenya easily beat Uganda, and Namibia all but assured themselves of qualification with a big win over Netherlands. Canada now sit bottom of the table on net run rate, with the bottom four teams all with one win, Nepal 2nd with two wins, and Namibia top of the table and unbeaten. Canada now must win their last two matches against Uganda on Wednesday and Namibia on Thursday to stand a chance of reaching the final.
CricInfo scorecard