Canada falls just short in face of victory in 1st ODI against Nepal

Canada opened its three-match ODI series against Nepal with a nailbiter, losing by seven runs to the hosts despite looking in control until late.

Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first but finished with what looked a below-par 224 all out in 50 overs. Needing 51 runs off the final 17 overs with six wickets in hand, Canada looked well on course for victory before calamity struck and the side was bowled out for 217 with 2.1 overs still remaining.

“I think we played great cricket throughout the majority of the day, it’s just the last session that didn’t go in our favour,” captain Saad Bin Zafar said in the post-match ceremony. “I think the wicket had a bit of turn at the end and Rohit [Paudel] bowled exceptionally well and picked up wickets at the right time.”

Nepal captain Rohit Paudel was the Player of the Match for his bowling figures of 8.5-2-22-4.

The next match will be Friday at 10:30pm EST. Below is the scorecard link, playing XI from this match and the main takeaways:

Scorecard

Playing XI:

Aaron Johnson, Navneet Dhaliwal, Pargat Singh, Nicholas Kirton, Harsh Thaker, Shreyas Movva (wk), Saad Bin Zafar ©, Dillon Heyliger, Shahid Ahmadzai, Ishwarjot Sohi, Uday Bhagwan.

SPINNERS LEAD CANADIAN FIGHTBACK

After a solid opening partnership of 48 in nine overs between Aasif Sheikh and Kushal Bhurtel, Nepal stayed in the ascendancy largely due to the latter. At 96/2 after 18 overs and Bhurtel into his sixties, Canada was on the backfoot and needed a turnaround.

Having opened the bowling, Bin Zafar brought himself back into the attack for a second spell and, in tandem with Harsh Thaker, turned the match on its head. Canada conceded just 53 runs off the next 15 overs but more importantly picked up the wicket of Bhurtel to trigger a middle-order collapse that left Nepal at 141/5 in the 30th over.

Bin Zafar’s willingness to flight the ball and keep batters guessing is a joy to watch. After repeatedly beating the outside edge of the right-hander, Bhurtel was drawn out of his crease to a ball just short of a length, was beaten by the turn as he looked to flick to the onside, and wicket keeper Shreyas Movva took care of the rest. Thaker’s consistency in line and length kept batters quiet and when Kushal Malla tried to break the shackles, he only managed to find Nicholas Kirton at long-on.

Thaker finished with figures of 6-0-15-1 while Bin Zafar bowled seven overs on the trot in his second spell for 30 runs and two wickets. Not to be outdone, Shahid Ahamdzai also asked plenty of questions with his left-arm orthodox bowling to finish with figures of 8-2-26-1.

SOHI, BHAGWAN PROVIDE BRIGHT IMPACT

While the spinners did plenty of damage, they were ably supported by both Ishwarjot Sohi and Uday Bhagwan. During the Hong Kong tour, Sohi seemed to show a preference for bowling with the older ball as opposed to opening the bowling, and that was certainly the case here as he was brought on second change and was effective throughout his eight overs.

Bhagwan gave Canada its first breakthrough with a short ball outside off stump that opener Sheikh tried to slash over third man but couldn’t get enough elevation. Navneet Dhaliwal completed a comfortable catch. Sohi picked up the key wicket of Rohit Paudel, rushing him with a short delivery that had the Nepal captain attempting a flick but in the end only managing a leading edge that was gobbled up by Thaker at backward point.

Bhagwan also picked up crucial wickets of Aarif Sheikh, who made 38 off 50, and Sompal Kami for 27 off 23, both of whom looked dangerous during their respective stays at the crease. Bhagwan was particularly energized by the wicket of Sheikh, though he did receive a warning from the umpire for an overzealous send-off.

The older ball pace duo of Bhagwan and Sohi finished with impressive combined figures of 16-1-70-5.

SINGH, KIRTON EXTEND GOOD RUN OF FORM

Pargat Singh scored an excellent century against Hong Kong while Nicholas Kirton managed a half-century in his lone match of the previous tour, and both carried their good form into this match with a key partnership after both openers were dismissed.

Coming together at a tricky 35/2 after six overs, the duo used their feet against spin brilliantly whether to rotate the strike or find the boundary. Singh, in particular, had several lofted drives to the extra cover boundary that oozed his class.

Against the run of play, though, Singh came down the track to Rohit Paudel’s first over of off-spin and mistimed a straight lofted drive to long-off. That ended an important partnership of 79 from just 82 deliveries. 

CANADA COLLAPSE IN FACE OF VICTORY

Thaker came together with Kirton to put on 60 for the fourth wicket in good time, and at 174/3 after 32.5 overs, the requirement of 51 runs off 103 balls with seven wickets in hand should have been straightforward.

Instead, Thaker’s wicket off the last ball in the 33rd over triggered an ugly collapse that saw Canada lose its final seven wickets for just 43 runs. Malla, who was dismissed by Thaker, returned the favour with his left-arm orthodox as Thaker went on the backfoot to a good length delivery that kept low and knocked his off-stump over.

While Singh and Kirton used their feet well when batting together, the collapse was primarily attributable to Canada’s batters struggling to decide when to come forward and when to stay back on a pitch that was increasingly keeping low and offering good turn. Credit must go to Nepal captain Paudel, who exploited the conditions beautifully and led from the front with his team’s back against the wall.

In the end, falling seven runs short with 13 balls to spare will be a bitter disappointment after playing the better cricket for the majority of the match.

“Run rate was not an issue so it was just about staying there and rotating strike,” Bin Zafar said after the match. “Nepal’s bowlers bowled in the right areas, they created pressure on us by bowling dot balls and that’s where I think we lost.”