Canada step up a gear to overwhelm Cayman Islands by 206 runs by International Cricket Council

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Scorecard:	Canada v Cayman Islands
Player:	S Jyoti, ZE Surkari, Qaiser Ali, Zahid Hussain, Khurram Chauhan, SC Gordon, A Morris, PI Best

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DateLine: 29th November 2008

 

After almost slipping up against Argentina yesterday, Canada made sure there was nothing close about their encounter with the Cayman Islands. Perhaps also wary after their surprise loss to the Cayman Islands in Toronto two years ago in the previous regional championship, Canada put in a powerful display with bat and ball to look like title challengers again.

 

On the Central Broward Regional Park B Field, Canada racked up an impressive 298 for 9 in 50 overs, with their top order firing on all cylinders. Opener Sandeep Jyoti top-scored with a stylish 88 off 129 balls, including 8 fours and a six, while two further half-centuries came from Zubin Surkari, 62 off 54 balls, 7 fours and 2 sixes, and Qaiser Ali, with 61 off 76 balls, with 4 fours and a six. Karun Jethi also weighed in with a whirlwind 37, scored off just 20 balls, with 3 fours and 3 sixes.

 

For the Cayman Islands, Alessandro Morris took 3 for 68 in 10 overs, while Ryan Bovell took 2 for 53 in his set of 10 overs. Disaster struck for the Cayman Islands, losing a wicket off the very first ball of their reply, a setback from which they were never really able to recover. Eventually bundled out for a mere 92 in 33,2 overs, only Steve Gordon showed some resistance of substance, making 24 from 68 balls, with 3 fours. Destroyers in chief for Canada were Khurram Chohan, who took 3 for 34 in 8 overs, and Zahid Hussain, with 3 for 11. Eion Katchay also bowled well to take 2 for 24 in his 8 overs.

 

Canadian captain Umar Bhatti was delighted with his teams return to form: “We set ourselves goals today and I believe we achieved almost all of them. The team performed tremendously well today, all three departments were up to scratch, and it was a huge improvement from yesterday.”

 

Pearson Best, captain of the Cayman Islands, will certainly be looking for improvement in the games ahead: “We’re nowhere near the standard we should be, both batting and bowling. Today we just did not come to terms with the conditions, the bounce especially, the bowlers not exploiting it and the batsmen not coping with it.”

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2008 International Cricket Council)