Canadians hope win over Kenya can boost reputation

Canada posted their first win of the 2011 World Cup, beating Kenya by five wickets in their Group A clash at Delhi yesterday.

The North American side had done well with the ball to bowl Kenya out for 198, with Henry Osinde taking 4-26 in his 10 overs backed by two wickets apiece from Harvir Baidwan and Rizwan Cheema.

And despite some early setbacks in the run chase, Jimmy Hansra (70 off 99 balls) and skipper Ashish Bagai (64 not out) helped set up the win with their 132-run stand that took Canada over the line with four-and-a-half overs to spare.

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Victory has given Bagai hope of becoming more than just an also-ran side.

Their campaign may not have lit up the tournament the way Ireland have done so far, but even in the three defeats prior to yesterday’s game, they had plenty to cheer for with their bowling.

“Henry did a fantastic job first up,” Bagai said.

“We knew we could swing the new ball for a couple of overs and he took advantage of that, got some early wickets and put them under pressure.

“Our bowling’s done a fantastic job all the way through. We had a great game against Pakistan even against Zimbabwe. So if we continue that and some guys find form we can be competitive.”

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Canada had lost early wickets during the run-chase and Bagai gave full credit to Hansra, as the duo smashed 14 boundaries between them to stay well on top of the required run-rate.

Bagai added: “Jimmy played a fantastic knock with me and both of us did a great job to get us over the line.

“It wasn’t an easy wicket but once you’re in, it’s easy to rotate the strike. We did that pretty well and Jimmy got the odd boundary to take some pressure off of me.

“We were fortunate to have no run rate pressure really. We got a decent start and kept up with the run rate right the way through.”

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Pakistan batsman Mohammad Hafez has admitted ahead of today’s match against New Zealand that both he and fellow opener Ahmed Shehzad have not done enough at the start of their innings, despite winning all three of their opening fixtures.

He said: “As an opener I know we have not given good starts to the team, but there’s no lack of confidence. When you assess the pitch as an opener, you have to plan out what it would be like, and both pitches at Hambantota and at the Premadasa had a lot of movement and swing.”

Pakistan top Group A all will be looking to maintain their 100 per cent start to the competition, whereas New Zealand have been beaten by Australia.

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