Rain robs Canada of win over Denmark
29 June 2005
Another strong bowling performance by Canada put them into an excellent position to beat Denmark before rain caused abandonment of the match. The bowling was led by Dhaniram's 5/ 23, and Canada needed just 53 runs to win with 7 wickets and 31 overs left when rain intervened, just short of the required overs to bring Duckworth-Lewis into play.
Canada won the toss, and John Davison somewhat oddly (given that Canada needed batting practice) put in the Danes. Desmond Chumney is injured, and Thuraisingam has a minor ankle problem. Dassanayake was also rested as a precationary measure, leaving Surkari to keep.
Osinde Henry struck in the second over, trapping Singh lbw, and two overs later Dhillon ran out Ali leaving Denmark at 8/2. Osinde conceded just 6 runs in 4 overs in his opening spell. A change of bowling brought another wicket, Petersen caught Codrington bowled Maxwell for 8. Maxwell bowled an excellent spell of 5 overs conceding 8 runs. Malcolm-Hansen (8) played a defensive innings, but put on 43 with Ahmed before Dhaniram had him caught (68/4 at the half-way stage of the innings). Davison again proved economical, and his industry was rewarded with the wicket of Ahmed (43), clean bowled, with the score on 77. Zubin Surkari, playing as keeper instead of Dassanayake will be delighted with securing a stumping off Dhaniram, who then took his third wicket when Borchersen was caught by Henry. Codrington again started with three successive maidens, and Dhaniram picked up wicket number 4 bowling Pedersen for 4- 96/8. Chalwa contributed 24* but Dhaniram and Sandher picked up the last two wickets, leaving Canada a modest 133 to win.
Dhaniram was the pick of the bowlers with 5/23 from 10 overs, but it was a fine all round performance in the field again. all the bowlers were economical - Codrington bowled 8 overs for 12 runs and Davison 7 overs for 18. The total was boosted by 17 wides.
Canada's reply started poorly when Dixon was caught for just a single with the score on 5. Surkari followed soon after, bringing Billcliff and Davison together with the score on 23. Davison batted cautiously, scoring just 9 runs in the first 13 overs. Billcliff contributed just 9 before giving Singh his third catch of the innings, the wicket falling on 51. Davison started to accelerate, but the rain came down, with Canada 79/3 after 19 overs. No further play was possible, and the match was abandoned.
Canada opens the tournament proper against Namibia on July 1st. If all are fit, it seems likely that Dixon, Codrington and Osinde may sit out the first game (Osinde has bowled well but there is a limit to the number of deemed nationals who can play). [Scorecard]
Canada beat Uganda by 18 runs in warm-up match
28 June 2005
Canada beat Uganda by 18 runs in a warm-up match in Belfast. Canada's batting was disappointing but an excellent all-round performance in the field led to a comfortable victory.
Canada squandered a good start led by skipper Davison's 40. Davison, opening the innings got off to a typically quick start, scoring his runs out of the first 59. He lost his opening partner Maxwell on 29, and then himself was caught off Kamyuka who took the first three wickets. Some will recall Kamyuka from the last ICC Trophy, where he made a spectacular century batting at 10. Billcliff made a duck, and Dhillon followed shortly after, leaving Canada at 65/4. Surkari made a solid 19 but two more wickets fell quickly with the score on 90, leaving Dassanayake and Codrington to try and re-build the innings, which they did albeit with a fair degree of caution. They put on 31 before Codrington was caught leg-before, and Dassanayake was bowled for 29 shortly afterwards. The tail didn't to wag, and Canada failed to bat out their overs.
Kamyuka took 3/24, Isaneez 3/23, and Nsubuga 3/16. Nehal took the other wicket and bowled his 9 overs for just 16 runs.
Osinde Henry, ruled out of Uganda's ICCT squad in 2001 through injury opened the bowling against his former side, and was first to strike, trapping Sematimba leg-before with the score on 20. Bhatti also took a wicket as the opening pair bowled economically, before being replaced by spin, with Daivson and Sandher operating in tandem. Maxwell took his second catch when Davison took the third wicket with the score on 46 in the 16th over. the spinners bowled to great effect, restricting the run rate and taking wickets. Davison was the more economical, bowling his 10 overs for just 19 runs and 2 wickets, and Sandher took 3 wickets, conceding just 21 runs off 10 overs. Dharinam also bowled economically, and when George Codrington came on to bowl in the 40th over he started with three maidens, upping the pressure on the Ugandan tail. Codrington took 1/11 and Dharina m2/33 as they polished off the Ugandan innings
Canada will be pleased with an excellent performance in the field, and the spin attack in particular showed they can be effective on Irish wickets. The batting however is a cause for concern, and Canada will be looking for a better performance in their final warm-up match against Denmark tomorrow. The task of qualfication in their Group looks hard indeed, as Oman easily beat Denmark, and Namibia chased down 272 to beat a strong Irish side in other warm-up matches (Dave Liverman) [Scorecard]