Canada overcame some early jitters with the bat to eventually win the battle of the associates by beating Kenya by five wickets and register their first win in the World Cup on Monday at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
Right-handed batsman Jimmy Hansra (70) and captain Ashish Bagai (64 not out) stitched together a 132-run partnership for the fourth wicket that sealed the Group A match for the North Americans.
They surpassed Kenya’s total of 198 with 27 balls to spare.
Hansra and Bagai consolidated hard after Canada were reduced to 48 for three and batted intelligently thereafter to wrest the control back in their hands, helped in part by a few dropped catches.
“I made sure I made them pay after the dropped catch. It was good to be positive at the start,” a content looking Hansra said. “I hit the shots that I was comfortable with, pushed the field back and rotated the singles in the middle.”
Paceman Henry Osinde took four wickets as Canada shot out the Africans for a paltry 198 runs after they opted to bat first on winning the toss.
The burly fast bowler got the ball to move a bit at the start to take three quick wickets in his opening spell and returned to add one more to his tally off his last over.
Medium pacers Harvir Baidwan and Rizwan Cheema also chipped in with two wickets apiece.
“The whole World Cup our bowlers have done a fantastic job and our fielding too. Our batting had let us down so I am happy that we worked things out today,” Hansra said.
Kenya had been bundled out for scores of 69, 112 and 142 — amassing just 323 runs in their last three outings before Monday and they once again got off to a sorry start and tottered at 57 for five at one stage.
However, a patient 52-run partnership between Tanmay Mishra (51) and captain Kamande for the sixth wicket weathered the storm and ensured respectability for the African nation.
Mishra also added 57 runs with Thomas Odoyo for the seventh wicket before he fell while trying to up the tempo.
Odoyo (51) looked the most fluent Kenya batsman on the pitch and with five boundaries and one six managed to take Kenya close to the 200-run mark.
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