By Canadian Press

Canada’s win streak in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 ends in the Netherlands

Aug 11, 2024 | 10:18 AM

VOORBURG — Canada suffered its first loss in five matches in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 play, beaten by five wickets by the Netherlands on Sunday.

After Canada finished at 194 all out in its innings, the Dutch reached their victory target in the 46th over, finishing at 195 for five. New Zealand-born opener Max O’Dowd, whose mother is Dutch, led the way at 79 out with eight fours in his 119-ball innings and was named player of the match.

The Dutch batsmen dominated until former Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar, in his second spell bowling, took three late wickets.

“I don’t think we bowled that badly, to be honest, given they took like 40-odd overs to chase the runs but definitely a bit short with the bat,” said newly named Canada captain Nicholas Kirton.

“All in all it was not a bad game from us, I’d say, just areas to improve,” he added.

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Wicketkeeper Shreyas Movva led the Canadian batting attack with 65 runs from 90 balls with six fours.

The Canadians only arrived in the Netherlands on Friday, with many playing in the Global T20 Canada tournament in Brampton, Ont.

The Dutch (3-2) are ranked 14th and the Canadians 15th in the International Cricket Council’s one-day international rankings.

Canada (4-1) faces the 19th-ranked U.S. on Tuesday and Aug. 19 and the Netherlands again on Aug. 17. The Canadian men previously posted a pair of wins over both United Arab Emirates and Scotland in February-March in Dubai.

The Cricket World Cup League 2 also features Namibia, Nepal and Oman with each of the eight teams playing 36 one-day internationals spread across nine triangular series through December 2026.

The top four teams move on to a 10-country World Cup Qualifier that will send the last four teams to the 2027 World Cup.

Canada last played at the World Cup in 2011, also taking part in 1997, 2003 and 2007.

The Canadians have climbed cricket’s ladder since being relegated to ICC World Cricket League Division Three in 2017, winning promotion to League 2 in their bid to qualify for the 2027 World Cup. Canada regained its one-day international status for the first time in almost a decade in April 2023.

Canada won the toss and elected to bat first Sunday, finishing at 194 all out with eight balls remaining in their allotted 50 overs.

Harsh Thaker added 35 with opener Dilpreet Bajwa contributing 25 and Bin Zafar 22. Kirton exited after just four balls for one run.

Kyle Klein was the best of the Dutch bowlers, taking four wickets at the expense of 33 runs.

Dutch openers Michael Levitt and O’Dowd combined for 77 runs before Levitt was caught on 45 with eight fours from his 50-ball knock. The Netherlands did not lose another wicket until Vikramjit Singh was caught for 29 with the Dutch at 155 for two.

The 2027 World Cup, scheduled for October-November, will feature 14 teams competing in 54 matches in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Two of the three co-hosts, South Africa and Zimbabwe, as well as eight of the other 10 top-ranked teams on the ICC’s one-day internationals automatically qualify.

In addition to four teams from the World Cup League 2, the World Cup Qualifier will feature two bottom-ranked full ICC members in the one-day international rankings (other than World Cup co-hosts South Africa and/or Zimbabwe) and the top four teams from a World Cup Qualifier Playoff.

The bottom four teams from League 2 have another chance to qualify, joining four teams from the Challenge League in World Cup Qualifier Playoff.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2024

The Canadian Press