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Irish prevail narrowly in practice hitout

John Polack

June 26, 2001

It might only have been a practice game but the closeness of today's Ireland-Canada struggle has confirmed that a tight battle for ICC Trophy tournament honours looms over the next three weeks.

Each of these two sides is expected to press earnestly for the World Cup berths that lie in wait for the event's three highest finishers. In such a context, the Europeans' two-wicket win at the King City complex was an important early psychological boost.

But, as the hardest-earned of all of the victories recorded in today's four officially-sanctioned friendly games, arguably its clearest implication is that the battle for places at the top of Division One in this championship is likely to be intense.

In perfect conditions, the Canadians made a start to match the weather. Openers Ishwar Maraj (41) and Nicholas DeGroot (32) took the score to 87 without loss in the twenty-third over. But a sudden collapse, which saw four wickets surrendered for the addition of only a further 11 runs, quickly changed the complexion of the game. On a slow pitch, the home team was undone chiefly by left arm spinner Matthew Dwyer (3/30) and medium pacer Derek Heasley (2/32). Captain Joe Harris batted valiantly for his 39 around another late collapse that limited the Canadians' score to a total of 8/202 by the end of its 50 overs.

The beginning and middle stages of Ireland's innings were played out in similar fashion. Jason Molins (35) and Andrew White (22) added 61 in brisk time for the opening wicket before batsmen again started beating a well-worn path back to the dressing room. Significantly, the Joyce brothers, from whom big things are expected in the days ahead, were both subdued as spinners Barry Seebaran (2/23) and John Davison (2/24) assumed an edge. Where the visitors' exhibition with the bat differed from that of their hosts was in the finish; aggressive right hander Heasley lifting the Irish to a last-over victory with a spectacular unbeaten innings of 64 which featured a mix of fine placement and outright aggression.

Elsewhere, the margins of victory were more comfortable for Namibia, Fiji and Bermuda.

Namibia's eight wicket win over France at Eglinton Flats was built upon a superb overall performance from its seven bowlers. Bjorn Kotze (2/11) was the chief architect of a slide that saw the Frenchmen crash to 6/29 at one point but the accuracy and control of Rudi Van Vuuren (1/4), Lennie Louw (2/6) and Deon Kotze (2/11) was also telling. For the batting team, Arun Ayyavooraju (15) and Peter Linton (12) stood out.

The Africans lost the wickets of Stefan Swanepoel (0) and Danie Keulder (23) in the chase but weren't greatly troubled as they swept to their victory with close to thirty overs to spare. Riaan Walters (39 not out) produced a nicely composed innings.

Despite a serious late innings stumble which saw them lose their last seven wickets for only 14 runs, Fiji emerged 16-run victors over East and Central Africa in a low-scoring contest at Kitchener Kaiteur.

Neil Maxwell (38) and Arshad Dudhia (38) traded the best innings of the day for their respective sides, but it was the greater support that the former received from his teammates that proved the difference. After three of their first four batsmen fell to run outs, the Fijians' slide owed much to the bowling of Feroz Mushi (4/35) and Virendra Kamania (2/24).

Around Dudhia's vigilance, new ball bowlers Atunaisa Tawatatau (3/29) and Taione Batina (3/20) then stunned the East and Central Africans. The first five wickets fell with only 18 runs on the board and not even the defiant salvage mission mounted by their number three batsman could completely overturn such early calamities.

Bermuda, another Division One team, also produced a convincing start. In its 72-run defeat of Argentina at Ajax, Albert Steede (50) and Janeiro Tucker (47) demonstrated their strong claims to being among the tournament's best batsmen. Each was in command as they set their team on its way to an eventual total of 8/222. It was only a fine spell of medium pace bowling from Gaston Arizaga (4/37) that contained the damage.

Experienced campaigner Donald Forrester (64) led a dogged fight from Argentina as it made its way to a total of 140 in reply. But, against some accurate bowling, the South American champions' hopes of forcing a tight finish always looked remote. Their day was also badly soured by an injury to number four batsman Tomas Francis. Francis rolled an ankle after running a quick single and attempting to dodge a fieldsman who was making his way toward the stumps at the bowler's end. The Argentines have sent an urgent SOS for a replacement to be summoned from home as the injury seems serious enough to ensure that Francis' tournament, cruelly, is now over.