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By Peter Della Penna in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation

Abrash Khan led a middle order revival for Canada to push his side out of peril on the way to a 100-run win over Bermuda on Tuesday afternoon in the 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Khan was named Man of the Match after scoring 77 off 69 balls with 12 fours before taking 1 for 17 in the field. Canada moves to 1-1 with the win while Bermuda drops to 0-2 in the tournament.

Canada won the toss and elected to bat first on a hot morning with temperatures climbing into the mid 90s by noon time. Harsh Thakar and Kurt Ramdath opened the batting for Canada and turned in a 22-run partnership, nine more runs than any partnership produced on Monday against USA. Ramdath was the first to go when he played across to a good length ball off the bowling of medium pacer Antonio Darrell and was given LBW for 4.

Darrell struck again when he had Gayan Ferdinands out for 5 to make it 33 for 2 in the eighth over after the batsman prodded a knee high full toss softly to short cover. Thakar’s time at the crease ended in the 12th over for 12 when he tried to hit a full toss to midwicket but instead sent a leading edge to short cover to give Alex Dore his second catch and Joshua Liyanage his first wicket. Bradley Dickinson was next to go for 6 when he failed to keep a yorker out from Micah Perozzi and the score became 62 for 4 in the 15th over.

Khan then joined Canada U-15 captain Prushoth Senathirajah at the crease to build a 40-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Khan should have been run out early in his innings when Senathirajah punched a ball into the covers and failed to take off for a certain run. Both men wound up at the striker’s end, but the fielder was not alert to the situation and fired the ball wildly toward the keeper, who was unable to field the ball which allowed Khan to get back safely to the non-striker’s end.

Senathirajah got a good start but could not convert it into a big score as he pulled a waist height full toss from off-spinner Khalif Williams to deep midwicket where Christion Gibbons-Wade ran in to complete a diving catch and the Canada U-15 captain had to go for 24. Manula Adihetly didn’t last long, driving a full delivery from Williams to Perozzi at mid off for 2 to make it 114 for 6 in the 25th over.

Miraj Patel came in at number eight and got off to a very nervy start, dropped on 0 at point off the bowling of left-arm spinner Delray Rawlins with the score on 118. Bermuda continued to be haunted by their fielding when Patel was dropped again on 1 with the score at 129 in the 30th over. The batsman tried to slog a flighted delivery by Rawlins over mid on, but the fielder stationed there spilled a simple chance and Patel was allowed to stay and build a crucial stand with Khan. Rawlins’ luckless spell ended in the 32nd when Khan hit him for his seventh boundary to bring up his half-century in 51 balls.

Image (above) - Abrash Khan watches the ball sail away after pulling Khalif Williams for one of his 12 boundaries against Bermuda. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

As the partnership between Khan and Patel grew, Bermuda’s body language and attitude in the field got progressively worse. Consequently, a flurry of extras were conceded including seven wides from Darrell in the 35th over and three no balls by Cejay Outerbridge in the 38th. Khan finally fell to Outerbridge in that same over to end the partnership with Patel at 74 as he drove a full length ball high in the air to mid off to make it 188 for 7.

Patel fell six balls later when he chopped a short ball from Gibbons-Wade onto his stumps for 24 to make it 197 for 8. Number 10 Shafin Ahmed was foxed by a slower ball from Liyanage to go for a duck but Amrinder Atwal and Sarbjot Singh pushed Canada past 200 in the final over to finish on 207 for 9 in 40 overs. Extras finished as second high score with 46 including 35 wides.

Canada got off to a great start in the field and took wickets at regular intervals as Bermuda never threatened to chase the target. Two days after scoring 71 against USA, Rawlins couldn’t handle a short ball from Senathirajah and edged behind to the keeper Singh for 9 to make it 18 for 1. Keishun Smith came in next but only lasted four deliveries before he was gone for 2, edging a full delivery from Senathirajah to give Singh his second catch. Opening batsman Commissiong departed for 10 to make it 51 for 3 in the 10th when he was late driving at a full delivery from Khan as Singh took another catch behind the stumps.

Bermuda U-15 captain Darrell came and went quickly, gone for 6 when he mistimed a pull off Atwal to midwicket where Thakar pulled off a leaping catch to make it 58 for 4. Janhoi Bean-Wilson joined Dore at the crease and the two put on 20 runs as it looked like a promising partnership was being built, but the introduction of spin began to cause problems. Leg-spinner Adihetly continuously flighted the ball to invite the drive until Bean-Wilson acquiesced with a simple return catch for 8 to make it 78 for 5 in the 21st.

Dore’s stay finally came to an end for 25 when he came forward to defend an off-spin delivery from Ferdinands but wound up edging to Dickinson at first slip, who dove forward to pull off a fantastic catch inches from the ground to make it 84 for 6. Ferdinands struck twice more, getting Gibbons-Wade to slice a catch to point for 2 and Outerbridge to top edge an attempted sweep to Singh for 7 to make it 96 for 8.

Perozzi played all around a full toss from Adihetly and was given LBW for 1 to make it 101 for 9. Ramdath then took the final wicket in his only over of left-arm spin when Liyanage tried to cut a short ball and gave a thin edge that was snapped up by Singh for his fifth dismissal in the match as Bermuda finished all out for 107 in 28 overs. Ferdinands bowled a tidy spell to finish with Canada’s best figures in the field, 3 for 24 off eight overs with one maiden.

After the first round of matches, Khan is the leading scorer in the tournament with 94 runs while Williams and Dave Parikh of USA are each tied with five wickets to lead all bowlers. Canada has the day off on Wednesday while USA gets back into action when they take on Bermuda for the second time at Assiniboine Park. Game time is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.