The Canadian U19 squad, after a thrilling win over Scotland in their opening match of the Global U19 World Cup qualifier, lost narrowly to Kenya today. Kenya at one point reduced to 47\/4 thanks to three wickets from Nitesh Kumar, recovered to post 215\/7, in large part due to a century from Duncan Allen well supported by Joseph Ochieng. Both Shah and Dutta made half-centuries as Canada made a good start to the run-chase but they faltered as the middle order struggled to combat a rising run rate. The tail-end battled hard but Canada were all out in the final over, leaving Kenya the winner by 15 runs.
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The weather was damp, delaying the start but play got underway with no reduction in overs, with Kenya batting after winning the toss.
\nCanada again made an early breakthrough, when Aulakh induced an edge to the keeper in the third over. Kenya advanced to 42\/1 in the eleventh over, when yesterday’s man of the match Nitesh Kumar displayed his all-round ability by taking two wickets, dismissing Patel thanks to a nifty leg-side stumping by Ramsammy, and next ball having Karim caught behind. He took his third wicket in his next over, leaving Kenya 47\/4 after 14 overs. Duncan Allen, who has been performing well for the senior team, showed his class with an excellent century from 128 balls with eight fours and three sixes. Allan and Joseph Ochieng put together a partnership of 136, finally broken when Singh bowled Allan for 103. After some big hitting and taking Kenya past 200, Ochieng departed for 73 in the 49th over. Kenya’s final total was 215\/7. The scorecard has an odd look, with Ochieng and Allan responsible for 176 of the 197 runs scored off the bat, and no other bat making more than 6. Aulakh (3-30) and Kumar (3\/25) were the pick of the bowlers. <\/p>\n
Kenya made a critical breakthrough when Kumar was bowled by Allan for 6 in the 5th over. Shah (51) and Dutta (55) put on 98 together to put Canada in a strong position with 22 overs to go but then three quick wickets slowed the run chase. With 7 overs to go Canada needed 62 runs with only 4 wickets left. Tristan Ali hit a couple of boundaries but then perished, caught in the deep going for the big hit. Ramsammy was unable to get the ball away, making just 10 from 29 balls. The tail-end battled hard but Canada were all out in the final over, leaving Kenya the winner by 15 runs.<\/p>\n