01 February 2024
Saad Bin Zafar leads from the front in dominant Candian win
Hong Kong, China’s hopes of qualifying for the One Day Series final received a boost as Canada bowled Malaysia out for 162 and took less than 29 overs to overhaul their target. An outright win against Canada on Saturday should be enough for the home side to secure their spot in Sunday’s final.
Saad bin Zafar took 2-15 with his left-arm spin, trapping both Virandeep Singh and Ahmad Faiz in front of the wickets. Unsurprisingly, the Canadian skipper was adjudged Player of the Match for an all-round display that also saw him score an unbeaten 30 to take his side home.
On a day where everything went right for him, Zafar won the toss and put Malaysia into bat. Malaysian skipper Virandeep looked to be at his aggressive best, striking three maximums in his run-a-ball 40, including one that sailed over a wide long on and onto Tin Kwong Road.
After he departed, it sparked a collapse that saw Malaysia lose their last nine wickets for 99 runs. In spite of Sharvin’s resolute 42, where he top-scored for his team for the second time in two days, Malaysia were unable to withstand Dillon Heyliger’s old ball spell, where the muscular quick took three late wickets to finish with 4-19 and set his team a manageable target of 163.
Despite losing two wickets in the first powerplay, including the big scalp of Navenet Dhaliwal who was plumb LBW to Syed Aziz, Canada kept attacking Malaysia’s bowlers. Aaron Johnson smashed five sixes in his belligerent 69, including two off Virandeep that sailed over the straight boundary and out of the ground.
After Johnson holed out to Amir Azim and Srimantha Wijeyeratne missed a sweep off Khizar Hayat to get trapped in front, Canada found themselves five down with another 44 runs still required to win.
Although he struggled against Malaysia’s off spinners in the early stages of his innings, Zafar shook off the cobwebs to guide his team home with more than 21 overs to spare.
Brief Scores:
Canada 167/5 in 28.2 Overs (Johnson 69, Zafar 30*, Haider 1-26) beat Malaysia 162/10 in 40.5 Overs (Sharvin 42, Virandeep 40, Heyliger 4-19) by 5 Wickets