Canada defeat Irish in run-fest

Canada have successfully chased down a enormous total set for the them by Ireland overnight to emerge victorious by six wickets in Nairobi.

The match was a thriller from the start. Canada won the toss and elected to field and Ireland got off to a blistering start. Openers William Porterfield (21) and Jeremy Bray (35) both did well but were unable to capitalise on their starts before a career best performance by Eoin Morgan with an incredible 115 off 106 balls put Ireland in a commanding position.

Two intelligent cameos by middle order batsman Kevin O’Brien (52) and Trent Johnston (44) saw Ireland take their total to a whopping 308 runs off their 50 overs.

Most of the Irish bowlers had a day they would rather forget, the exceptions being Umar Bhatti, who took 2-35 and John Davison who managed 1-44.

In their reply, Canada never lost sight of the target. It was a mature and calculated run chase led by a superb Ashish Bagai century together with Abdool Samad, Qaiser Ali and John Davison all contributing to the score.

The outcome was never certain until Qaisar Ali hit the winning runs with a brilliant boundary with just two balls remaining. The chase was statistically, the greatest ever by an associate country to win a one-day match.

The Irish bowlers would have all been heavily disappointed by their performances, each of them going for many runs with little or no wickets to show for it.

After the match, Canadian captain John Davison commiserated with Ireland saying he felt sorry for their loss after such a fine start.

“I’m feeling for Ireland. They obviously batted really well but things didn’t work out for them today. We won the toss and obviously wanted to chase after seeing Ireland’s last couple of games,” he said.

“Ashish batted brilliantly for us. His fitness has improved so much since attending the winter training camp. I wouldn’t have put any money on us after the Ireland innings to be honest.”

Canada will now take on Kenya in Nairobi in an attempt to keep their ICC World Cricket League campaign alive.

Ireland 308/7
Eoin Morgan 115, Kevin O’Brien 52, Trent Johnston 44
Umar Bhatti 2-35, John Davison 1-44

Canada 312/4
Ashish Bagai 122, Qaiser Ali 60, John Davison 57
Kevin O’Brien 1-34

Canada won by 6 wickets