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NEW DELHI.
Skipper Shahid Afridi took five wickets to help Pakistan overcome a scare at the hands of Canada and clinch a hard-fought 46-run win in their World Cup Group A match at R. Premadasa stadium yesterday.
Pakistan, bowled out for just 184 in 43 overs under overcast skies, hit back with the ball by dismissing Canada, who at one point were 104-3, for 138 in 42.5 overs, with Afridi finishing with 5-23 in his 10 overs.
Afridi now has 14 wickets in three wins in as many matches and is the leading wicket-taker in the World Cup with 14 victims as his side edged closer to the quarter-finals.
But Afridi was angry at his team’s sloppy performance with the bat.
“I think sometimes we need some partnerships and that’s what we were missing. We’re not going to repeat this batting performance again,” he said.
Canada captain Ashish Bagai, whose team have yet to make a total of 150 in the tournament, said his team had let themselves down.
“Fighting is one thing but getting over the line is obviously taking it to another level. We had a good chance today to show everybody what we’ve put in and we fell short.”
With Canada well placed after Jimmy Hansra (43) and Zubin Surkari (27) adding an invaluable 60 for the fourth wicket, Afridi returned for his second spell to take four wickets in 17 deliveries to seal the victory. In his first spell of six overs he had dismissed Canada skipper Ashish Bagai (16). Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, who took 1-31, dismissed Surkari to give Pakistan the first breakthrough before Afridi ran through the remaining batting.
Afridi, who recorded Pakistan’s all time best World Cup figures of 5-16 against Kenya, bowled Rizwan Cheema (four) with the last ball of the 35th over, before bowling Hansra and Jimmy Baidwan off successive deliveries in the 37th.
The 31-year-old Pakistan skipper took 4-34 in Pakistan’s 11-run win over Sri Lanka last Saturday.
His effort averted another upset in the tournament, just a day after Ireland chased down a mammoth 328-run target to shock England in Bangalore.
The win gives Pakistan six points after three matches, setting them atop of Group A with Sri Lanka and Australia behind.
Earlier, Canada bowled a disciplined line and length with Baidwan (3-35), Cheema (2-33), Hansra (2-23) and Balaji Rao (2-50) combining to bowl out Pakistan for a below-par score.
Umar Akmal (48) and Misbah-ul-Haq (37) added 73 for the fifth wicket to repair the Pakistan innings, but once both departed the 1992 champions lost their last five wickets for a mere 19 runs in five overs. – AFP.