Qualifier Play-Off Day 8: Canada, UAE clinch impressive victories

Monitoring Desk

DUBAI: The final day of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off witnessed Canada and UAE notching up impressive wins against PNG and Jersey respectively.

Batting first, Canada got vital contributions from their top-order batters. Aaron Johnson stroked a 48-ball 53, while Pargat Singh continued his brilliant form in the tournament with a score of 66.

But the middle and the lower-middle order failed to contribute much, with the highest score being 28 by Saad Bin Zafar. This meant that PNG were able to contain Canada to a relatively low total of 218/8 in their 50 overs. John Kariko was the pick of the bowlers for PNG, registering figures of 4/45, said ICC blog.

During the chase, PNG never got going, with many of their batters failing to convert starts into big scores. Tony Ura scored a 38-ball 36 while Assad Vala chipped in with 29 runs.

Despite a gritty display in the lower order by Norman Vanua (33 off 50), PNG would fall short in their chase by 90 runs.

Jeremy Gordon would deliver a devastating spell for Canada, scalping six wickets in his ten overs.

UAE chose to bat first after winning the toss and it turned out to be a good call. Despite no one bringing up a century, some of their big guns delivered by playing some crucial knocks.

Muhammad Waseem (65 off 52) and Asif Khan (82 off 86) fired during UAE’s batting innings, as they notched up a competitive total of 284/7 in their 50 overs.

Julius Sumeerauer was the best bowler for Jersey, registering figures of 4/51.

Despite a determined showing with the bat, Jersey would eventually fall short in their chase by 66 runs. They still had some impressive performances with the bat though, with Harrison Carlyon especially impressing. The batter scored 85 off 89, hitting 7 fours and 5 sixes.

UAE, who had already sealed qualification alongside USA, saw impressive performances with the ball by Karthik Meiyappan, who scalped up four wickets.