ICC World Cup Qualifier - Final, Centurion:
Ireland 188-1 (42.3 overs) beat Canada 185 (48 overs) by nine wickets
 Ireland's Trent Johnston took 5-14 in a devastating spell of bowling |
Ireland hammered Canada by nine wickets to win the final of the World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa on Sunday. Canada batted first and were 185 all out off 48 overs, with Trent Johnston taking five wickets for 14 runs, Boyd Rankin 2-34 and Peter Connell 1-55. Ireland replied with 188-1 off 42.3 overs, aided by a score of 104 not out off 133 balls by William Porterfield. Gary Wilson was the only Irish batsman to lose his wicket, after making 38, while Niall O'Brien ended 38 not out. The Irish lined up without Eoin Morgan who returned to play for Middlesex after World Cup qualification was secured. Umar Bhatti was top-scorer for the Canadians with 46, Ashif Mulla scored 36 and Khurran Chohan contributed 26. Canada progressed to 36 before losing their first wicket, Geoffrey Barnett being caught by Niall O'Brien off the bowling of Connell for 19. Canadian wickets fell steadily after that and Johnston enjoyed the distinction of taking two wickets in consecutive balls in the 20th over of the match. He had Sunil Dhaniran caught by Alex Cusack and then Ashish Bagai was caught by Regan West off Johnston's bowling. Struggling at 131-8, Canada were in real trouble but a ninth wicket partnership of 54 between Bhatti and Chohan offered them some hope.  | Our opening bowlers didn't get a great start but then Trent came on and was magnificent |
Bhatti and Chohan were both eventually run out. In Ireland's reply, Wilson was caught by Ian Billcliff off the bowling of Sandeep Jyoti with the score at 89-1 in the 25th over. Ireland had already secured their qualification for the 2011 World Cup. "We came to South Africa to win this tournament, not just qualify for the World Cup," said delighted Ireland skipper Porterfield afterwards. "We were beaten in the final four years ago so we always said we wanted to go one step further this time around. "The way the guys have played over the past 19 days has been fantastic and I think we are now the Associate side that all the others want to beat," he said. "Today our opening bowlers didn't get a great start as Canada got off to a flier but then Trent came on and was magnificent. "He had a niggle coming into this match and was in pain after a couple of overs but the way he fought through that and bowled as well as he did was inspirational. "We have set great store during this tournament in starting well and the top four batsmen have really taken responsibility for scoring the runs so I am glad we finished strongly in that regard as well."
| 
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?