Webheads and India make light work
Group B: - CW XI v Canada
at Nixonstown
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
Quality spin made the difference at the CW Oval, as Neil Pickup celebrated another ODI six-for against Canadians unaccustomed to his variations. Canada were in the game for about 15 overs, as Nathan Hoy was tight in his opening spell but failed to get more than the wicket of Des Chumney (caught behind for 0), with Canada's best batsmen, Davison and Billcliff, blocking Hoy out well and taking runs off Patrick and Robbins.
However, Pickup got the vital breakthrough - and then some more breakthroughs. The leg-spinners bowled 19 successive overs with considerable success, nabbing out eight wickets and having wicket-keeper Ashish Bagai run out, and only Qaiser Ali (26 not out) played the spinners with some degree of control. Canada totalled 157, with 18 extras a possible concern for the CW management, but it was nevertheless a solid effort.
Then followed a rout with the bat. Ian Markus, Liam Camps and Brendan Goff got the honours, as CW XI aimed to score a high net run rate to assure themselves of a Super Eight position in case of teams split on four points. Markus and Camps put on 62 for the first wicket, before Camps was undone by a slow inswinger from Umar Bhatti, but Goff managed a brutal half-century in just 39 balls as Cricket Web's scoreboard whirled past 157 in just 21.4 overs. Markus got 73 not out, but still had to give away the Man of the Match honours to the ginger wizard.
Canada 157 all out (38 overs) lost to
Cricket Web XI 158 for 1 (21.4 overs) by nine wickets
Man of the Match: NS Pickup
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Group D: - India v Scotland
at Brisbane
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
Scotland managed three more runs than Canada, after being inserted, largely due to the splendid knock of wicket-keeper Colin Smith, who made a rearguard unbeaten 57. However, the new ball pretty much killed off the Scots, with Lockhart, Stanger and Watson all back in the pavilion having made one solitary run, as the score read four for three.
A recovery of sorts followed, with Gavin Hamilton and Colin Smith putting on plenty of runs for the fifth wicket, but a run out and three wickets from Virender Sehwag firmly buried all Scottish hopes of a win. 19 from Paul Hoffmann helped the Scots past 150, but it still looked a hopeless task against one of the best batting line-ups in the world.
However, after a couple of early breakthroughs, with Sachin Tendulkar hoiking to Hoffmann in the deep before the same Hoffmann had Dravid bowled with a bog-standard military medium delivery, Sehwag came to the fore once again. After standing out with the ball, he now played a patient, well-crafted, unbeaten 87, while the Scots were frustrated into using seven bowlers. Neither got any more wickets, as India eased to an eight-wicket victory.
Scotland 160 all out (43 overs) lost to
India 161 for 2 (34.5 overs) by eight wickets
Man of the Match: V Sehwag
