NEW DELHI – Captain Shahid Afridi saved Pakistan from following England into the World Cup dunces corner with a nerveless display of leg-spin to shatter Canada’s hopes of a famous triumph on Thursday. Just a day after Ireland had clinched a record-breaking win over England, Canada were dreaming of a similar sensational upset when they bowled out the 1992 champions for a paltry 184 in Colombo.
But Canada, who had already suffered a 210-run loss to Sri Lanka and a 175-run defeat to Zimbabwe, were undone by Afridi’s one-man show. The 31-year-old skipper claimed 5-23 to help dismiss Canada for 138 and seal a 46-run victory which put Pakistan back on top of Group A and with one foot in the quarter-finals with a third win in three matches.
Canada had been well placed at 104-3 before Afridi sent back Rizwan Cheema, Jimmy Hansra, Harvir Baidwan and Tyson Gordon in rapid succession. The Pakistan captain took his tournament tally to 14 wickets, becoming the first player to claim three successive four-wicket hauls in World Cup history. For good measure, he then ran out Balaji Rao to leave Canada on 134-9 before Wahab Riaz finished things off by destroying Henry Osinde’s stumps.
Umar Akmal had top-scored for Pakistan with 48. Afridi said his team’s woeful batting performance was a wake-up call. “I think sometimes we need some partnerships and that’s what we were missing. Partnerships are very important,” said the captain. “We’re not going to repeat this batting performance. But I think the bowlers are doing very well and we are very confident.”
Canada captain Ashish Bagai admitted that his team are being outclassed after Thursday’s 138 followed earlier totals of 122 and 123 in the tournament. “Fighting is one thing but getting over the line is taking it to another level. We had a good chance to show everybody what we’ve put in over the last few years and we fell short,” he said.
“The ICC have made a decision and it’s out of our hands,” Porterfield said. “It’s pretty disappointing cutting the teams to 10. I personally think there needs to be some kind of qualification.”
