Cold start for Canada in World Cup lead-up

Canada were well beaten, indeed outclassed by Northerns at Centurion, going down to defeat by a massive 217 runs to a side that finished bottom of their pool in the Standard Bank Cup.

The game got off to a poor start for Canada, when Joseph bowled three wides in his first over, and Northerns openers Rudolph and de Villiers accelerated comfortably against bowling that lacked length and direction. The hundred came up in the 15th over with both batsmen scoring freely.

Ifill had Rudolph caught behind with the score on 105, but van Jaarsveld picked up where he left off. The introduction of spinners Davidson and Seebaran slowed the scoring rate for a while in the middle of the innings.

After Seebaran conceded 30 runs off six overs of his first spell, he was hit for 40 off a further three overs, van Jaarsveld hitting 19 off his final over. De Villiers completed a fine century (109 off 108 balls) before he was bowled by Davidson, but the runs continued to flow. Northerns closed at 365/3 with van Jaarsveld on 124* off just 98 balls.

The bowling figures are not a pleasant sight for Canadian fans with only John Davidson achieving respectability with 10-1-34-1. In the absence of Asish Bagai, Fazil Samad did a creditable job behind the stumps, not conceding a bye.

The Canadian reply got off to a dreadful start as Nicky De Groot in the second over edged a catch to the keeper who parried it to slip. Desmond Chumney perhaps unwisely tried to pull his first ball, and only succeeded in skying it to fine leg, leaving Canada at 11/2.

Nicholas Ifill and Ishwar Maraj were left to try to re-build the innings. They put on 24 before Maraj edged a catch to de Villiers, and Ifill fell lbw to Joubert after making just 6 off 30 balls. Billcliff, and Harris both looked in good form, but after playing a few shots both got out when they might have been looking to build a big innings. Canada were 83/6 in the 22nd over.

Fazil Samad and John Davidson both played their normal aggressive game, Davidson making 18 from 15 balls before skying a catch to mid-wicket. Samad had only the tail left for support at this point, and when he was last out for a good 47 (with four well-struck sixes), Canada had mustered only 148, with 10 overs still to be bowled.

The Canadian bowlers, Davidson apart, looked rusty, and this perhaps reflects their lack of match practice in the last few months. Although the result is disappointing, the time spent in the middle is invaluable - but with their opening match against Bangladesh only a week away, there is little time, and much room for improvement.