By Suneer Chowdhary
Canada were never in hunt once New Zealand got to 358. What they were definitely in with a chance was to advertise the cause for the Associates to the ICC. And Ashish Bagai and Jimmy Hansra, the pair involved in Canada’s first World Cup win this year against Kenya did just that again.
Published: Mar 13, 2011, 05:55 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 13, 2011, 05:55 PM (IST)
New Zealand pipped Canada by 97 runs
By Suneer Chowdhary
Mumbai: Mar 13, 2011
Canada were never in hunt once New Zealand got to 358 in their 50 overs. What they were definitely in with a chance was to advertise the cause for the Associates to the ICC. And Ashish Bagai and Jimmy Hansra, the pair involved in Canada’s first World Cup win this year against Kenya did just that again. Bagai overcame cramps to post 84 while Hasnra had similar problems under the Mumbai sun after he had completed his half century.
Canada ended the run chase with 261 to their name, falling short by a much more respectable, 97 runs than their previous endeavours in this tournament.
When Canada lost their first couple of wickets for four in the fifth over, one could have been excused for expecting an early finish. The Black Caps would have certainly hoped so and would have probably scythed through the Canadians as well had their lynchpin Kyle Mills not gone down with a knee ailment. Mills had got rid of both Ruvindu Gunasekera and Zubin Surkari and had figures of two for two but was off the field in his third over.
This allowed the North American side to prolong the agony for the Kiwis through two good partnerships in the game. Hiral Patel and captain Ashish Bagai stemmed the wickets-fall with a 46-run partnership before the resistance was broken by Jacob Oram.
Hasnra picked up the gauntlet and with the supremely confident captain Bagai, got to the business of scoring the runs. The pair added 125 for the fourth wicket, which was Canada’s second-best stand ever in ODIs against a Test-playing nation.
Bagai could have gone on to complete his century but he cramped twice while batting and had no option but to start playing strokes. In the end, he edged one to the keeper. What made it special for Bagai was that despite the hopelessness of the situation it did not seem like he was playing for his own record – his 84 came off 87 deliveries and there were ten boundaries in the knock.
Hansra got to a slower half-century and began to cramp up as well. He called out for a runner but very soon, on his second cramping bout, he found it difficult to continue and had to leave the field.
John Davison’s run-out was the only highlight of the remaining part of the innings. Davison reached towards his end for what was a comfortable single but forgot to ground his bat and a casual throw from Brendon McCullum, some 30 yards away, hit the stumps.
Hansra returned from his injury for a few hits to remain unbeaten on 70. Oram picked up three wickets.
New Zealand’s total was based on some rapid batting in the first 15 overs, conscious slowing down towards the middle, taking the Batting Powerplay soon after Brendon McCullum’s century and utilising it to the fullest before the final slog in the last five overs.
Martin Guptill and Jesse Ryder got starts but failed to take advantage of the weak-looking Canadian attack before the pair of McCullum and Ross Taylor got the move on in the Batting Powerplay. Taylor looked to have walked right out of the previous game against Pakistan and slammed a 44-ball 74, consisting of five sixes and six boundaries.
Later, Scott Styris, Kane Williamson and James Franklin smashed 30s apiece in double-quick time to help the team get 118 in the last ten overs. Williamson remained unbeaten on 34, while Styris made a 20-ball 35 and Franklin took only eight balls to get to 31.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 358 for 6 in 50 overs (Brendon McCullum 101, Ross Taylor 78, Jesse Ryder 38, Scott Styris 35, Kane Williamson 34*; Harvir Baidwan 3 for 82, Balaji Rao 2 for 62, John Davison 1 for 30) bt Canada 261 for 9 in 50 overs (Ashish Bagai 84, Jimmy Hansra 70*, Hiral Patel 31; Jacob Oram 3 for 47, Kyle Mills 2 for 2) by 97 runs.
Man of the Match: Brendon McCullum
(Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here: @suneerchowdhary)
Pictures © Getty Images
