Men’s senior ODI team showing great signs at home

After losing four straight matches to the Netherlands and the U.S.A. in August to make their league standing more precarious, three straight wins (two against Nepal and one against Oman) at Maple Leaf Cricket Club in Ontario has Canada sitting pretty atop the table.

Canada posted strong scores batting first in the first two matches to win by 103 runs and 59 runs, respectively. Bowling first in the third match on Sept. 22, they were terrific in bowling Nepal out for 186. The batters then took care of business with five wickets to spare.

One ODI match remains for the home side before the No Frills T20 Cup, against Oman on Thursday, 26th September.

Tickets for the T20 series can be purchased here.

Here are four takeaways from the team’s performances through three matches:

HEYLIGER IN DYNAMITE FORM

With 67 runs off 41 balls to his name and 11 wickets at an economy rate of 3.64 through three matches, it’s safe to say Dilon Heyliger is in the form of his life.

Heyliger’s performances lower down the order in the first two matches were critical to Canada putting up big scores, particularly his blitzkrieg of 37 from just 14 balls featuring four sixes against Oman. He came in with Canada at 223/6 in 44.1 overs and accounted for 37 of the 53 runs scored.

Taking 4-for-42 with the ball later, only Harsh Thaker’s excellent 93 off 103 denied him Player of the Match honours. Heyliger won’t complain about sharing that award, though, having won it for scoring 30 off 27 and taking 5-for-31 in the first match against Nepal. Accounting for three of Nepal’s top four, Heyliger put his side in firm control early before mopping up the tail to finish with a fifer.

Heyliger is now the leading wicket-taker in the league, with 25 wickets to his name in 11 innings at an average of 18.88. Quality all-rounders can make or break a side and Heyliger’s performances have been nothing short of phenomenal.

CAPTAIN KIRT HITS HIS STRIDE

The ODI segment of the Netherlands tour was one to forget for new captain Nicholas Kirton, scoring just 24 runs in four innings as the team finished winless.

The 26-year-old found some good form in that T20I series, and has carried on in similar fashion at home. Through three innings, Kirton has scored 141 runs off just 102 balls and has been dismissed just once. Not necessarily known for his explosiveness, Kirton has blasted 11 sixes along the way and was breathtaking to watch during his innings of 73 from just 44 balls on Sept. 15 against Nepal.

Going up against the Dutch on their home soil as well as an in-form American team was a baptism by fire, but Kirton’s batting is coinciding with a good run of captaincy where the team is clicking on all cylinders and when one fails, someone seems ready to pick the other up.

NEXT MAN UP MENTALITY

In keeping with that theme of different players coming to the party, Navneet Dhaliwal, Pargat Singh, Harsh Thaker have all had important contributions with the bat while Kaleem Sana, Akhil Kumar, Parveen Kumar, and Ansh Patel have stepped up with the ball. Saad Bin Zafar, as always, has brought not only his economical bowling to the table but meaningful contributions with the bat as well.

Sana has remarkably bowled 26 overs at an economy rate of 3.04 while taking five wickets. As the opening bowler, he has set the tone in each and every match and simply not allowed opposing batters to dictate terms. His 17 wickets are second in the league’s total wickets chart, behind teammate Heyliger.

Both Akhil Kumar and Ansh Patel impressed in the opening match, combining for figures of 13.1-0-47-4. Parveen Kumar was solid in Canada’s third match, taking 1-for-31 in eight overs. It’s been great to see some fresh blood get in the mix post the T20 World Cup and they’ve done well to make a mark.

Bin Zafar’s 25 overs through three matches have seen him take a wicket in each match and he has only gone for 4.36 runs per over. With the bat, the former skipper combined with Kirton for a crucial 48-run partnership in the opening match against Nepal when the side looked in some trouble at 172/6 after 43.1 overs before recovering to 253/8. Bin Zafar made another important contribution in the very next match, smashing 22 off 15 after walking to the crease at 208/5 after 42.4 overs and helping Canada finish with 276/8.

Dhaliwal’s 48 and 87 in the first and third matches were knocks of patience and perseverance that were needed in those moments while Singh’s 42 and 64 in the second and third matches were vital innings builders at No. 3. Thaker’s 93 off 103 against Oman was a Player of the Match performance that once again showed his ability to anchor an ODI innings.

That innings also helped Thaker remain atop the run scoring charts for the ODI World Cup League 2, now with 479 runs to his name in 11 innings at an average of 59.87.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT?

If there’s one thing Canada would like to improve, it’s probably finishing off the opposition tail. In the first match, Nepal recovered from 80/7 to post 150, Oman battled back from 105/7 to reach 217 in the second match, and Nepal once again fought back from 87/7 to reach 181 all out in the third match. At the end of the day, this is a league where net run rate could be a factor so these marginal aspects could make a big difference in the end.

A positive for Canada will certainly be that they have been able to win these matches without any notable scores from Aaron Johnson or Shreyas Movva. Johnson has historically been very reliable for big starts at the top of the order and so, if he can get going, it should make life that much easier for the batters to come.

Movva was in very good form during the tour of the Netherlands, and hopefully it’s just a matter of time before he is firing on all cylinders again. Again, it’s a good sign for the team that others have taken on the responsibility of scoring runs during this time.