Canada won the opening ODI of the second CWC League 2 tri-series with a hard-fought victory over hosts UAE in Dubai. On his ODI return, Kaleem Sana took four wickets to keep the home side at 194 before half centuries from Srimantha Wijeyeratne and Nicholas Kirton saw the Canadians home with 14 balls and three wickets to spare.
UAE’s first encounter under new coach Lalchand Rajput was an unpleasant reintroduction to League 2, as they were defeated in their own backyard by the league’s lowest-seeded team. Canada, newcomers to the ICC’s flagship Associate one-day competition after being promoted from the Challenge League the previous cycle, were coming off an unfavorable warm-up tour to Nepal, where they had just been whitewashed in a three-match ODI series.
The left arm moves quickly. Sana had missed the tour and only returned for the unofficial follow-up matches against Nepal A, but he looked back to his form with career-best ODI figures of 4-42. After debutant Tanish Suri was run out in the second over, Sana took his maiden wicket, clipping Alishan Sharafu’s off stump to end a promising revival. Home captain Muhammad Wasim put up some resistance in the middle before falling one short of a half century, heaving a return catch back to Harsh Thaker. The wickets continued to fall, and despite Aayaan Afzal Khan’s efforts to hold the innings together with a rearguard 38, the teenager became Sana’s second victim when the left-armer returned to run through the tail. The UAE were knocked out six short of 200.
Canada appeared to struggle early in the chase, with three of its top four falling for single figures as they struggled to 49 for 3 after 15 overs. However, Wijeyeratne persisted and eventually found a more permanent companion in Nicholas Kirton. The pair added 64 for the fourth wicket before Wijeyeratne was caught down the leg by Zahoor Khan for 59. Zahoor would bag two more before the end, and if not for some clumsy catches, particularly from fellow seamer Junaid Siddique, the outcome could have been different. However, the important wicket eluded the hosts, as Kirton led the chase to end undefeated on 68 off 90, earning Canada its first points of the series.
Canada returns to action on Thursday against defending League 2 champions Scotland, while the hosts get three days off before facing the Scots in the third ODI of the six-match series on Saturday.
Brief Scores:
UAE 194 in 47.5 overs (Mughammad Wasim 48, Ayaan Khan 38; Kaleem Sana 4-42) lost to Canada: 198/7 in 47.4 overs (Srimantha Wijeratne 59, NR Kirton 86*; Zahoor Khan 3-37 ) by 3 wickets
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