Mother Nature must have a soft spot for Canadian cricket. Autumn has long since commenced in Southern Ontario, the nights are drawing in, and the leaves have turned the spectacular reds, golds and yellows that characterise the Canadian Fall. Yet for the new T20 Canada tournament, King City, 35km from downtown Toronto, enjoyed four days of perfect 20C sunshine. Only time will tell the importance of this unseasonal weather, but there's no doubt it helped bless the bold new era in Canadian cricket with the best of starts.
Pakistani fan dresses up as a tiger for the final
In 2008, Cricket Canada has succeeded in bringing Test-playing nations to the country for the first time in 10 years. Unlike when India and Pakistan contested the Sahara Cup in the 1990s, the Canadian team itself is now mixing with the best on home soil. Cynics may suggest this was a mickey mouse tournament with familiar results, but for Toronto's large pool of cricket fans, it meant much more.
Full teams from Canada, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe contested the tournament over four days at Maple Leaf Cricket Club, a cosy suburban stadium with an English county ground feel. Thanks in part to wayward bowling from an unfit-looking Shoaib Aktar, Sri Lanka comfortably chased down Pakistan's 132 to win Monday's final. The last day's cricket was somewhat anticlimactic, with an unfocused Canada slipping to a heavy defeat to Zimbabwe in the third-place playoff. Prior to that, all four teams had offered spirited displays in the round-robin matches.
Canada impressed, and looked like causing upsets in each of their first three games. On Friday against Pakistan, an impressive bowling display limited the visitors to just 137/7. Henry Osinde bowled quickly in an impressive opening spell, before Rizwan Cheema and Hanvir Baidwan slowed the scoring. Canada were well set at 65/2 in reply, rising star Cheema spearheading the attack with 34. But once he fell to Shoaib Malik, the lack of quality in the middle-order showed, as Canada crumbled to 102/9 at the end of the 20 overs.
Canada's Hanvir Baidwan bowls during Canada's match with Zimbabwe which was tied
Only inexperience thwarted Canada on day two, as they turned certain victory into defeat with a bowl out loss to Zimbabwe in the tournament's best game. Zimbabwe's gifted spinners, Ray Price and Prosper Utseya, looked a class apart from Canada's batsmen as they put the brakes on after another quick start from Cheema. Then Rao (22) and Karun Jethi (24) built a clever partnership in the final overs, taking their team to a competitive 135.
Canadian players have a discussion during Canada v Zimbabwe on Saturday (tied match)
Zimbabwe's reply got off to a dreadful start, with Cephas Zhuwawo unable to cope with Osinde's bounce and offering an easy to catch Baidwan at the edge of the circle. Things got worse when Cheema was introduced to the attack. Canada's new talisman made an instant impact, taking the wickets Hamilton Masakadza and Justice Chibhabha in his first over. Zimbabwe's most experienced batsmen, Tatendu Taibu (37), rebuilt the innings with clever if unspectacular play, guiding his team to a target of 37 from the last five overs. Yet when Hanvir Baidwan took two wickets with the first two balls of the final over – both cool catches just inside the boundary by Osinde – Zimbabwe needed an improbable ten from the last four balls.
Canada would have won, securing their first victory over an ICC full member since 2003, were it not for a disasterous piece of fielding by substitute Abzal Dean. Too eager in attacking an Utseya drive, he misfielded, letting the ball whizz over the boundary for four. A more experienced player would have gathered the ball calmly, giving the opposition a comfortable two, but ensuring they needed a boundary from the final ball. In the event Utseya turned Baidwan round the corner for single, tying the scores and leading to a bowl out. Again Canada's inexperience showed, with only Cheema hitting the stumps. Each Zimbabwe bowler was successful, and they took the points.
Ray Price bowls for Zimbabwe v Canada during Monday's 3rd place play-off
Canada's near-victory against Sri Lanka on Sunday would have been sensational had they pulled it off. With any chance of reaching the final now gone, they made several changes to the team, with the impressive Osinde and Jethi the most notable absentees. It showed in the bowling, with Baidwan and Dean expensive, and Sri Lanka reaching 153, the highest score in the tournament to date. With Ajantha Mendis restored to the Sri Lanka line-up after his team's narrow defeat to Pakistan, a Canada victory looked highly improbably, Rizwan Cheema had other thoughts. Blasting 68 from 43 balls, he had Canada at 80/3 after 10 overs. Mendis, taking advantage of a turning pitch enjoyed by slow bowlers throughout the tournanment, rescued his team with four wickets, as Canada finished on 138.
Rizwan Cheema walks off after being dismissed in the Canada v Zimbabwe 3rd place play-off
If Pakistan and Sri Lanka's star names weren't taking the tournament too seriously at the start, they certainly were by the end. Crowds of nearly 10,000 provided fervent support, and undoubtedly raised the intensity of the play. There have long been hopes Toronto's South Asian diaspora could become a large new market for cricket, but up to now they've only been able to watch the games on cable television. Captain Mahele Jayarwardene recognised how much his team's visit meant to the Sri Lankan population, and acknowledged their support when collecting the trophy. But significantly, both Pakistani Canadians and Sri Lankan Canadians lent support to the home team. Many fans held Canada's Maple Leaf flag – a new phenomenon and great news for Canadian cricket. Even more unusual was the sight of a white cross on a blue background – the provincial flag of Quebec. Fans chanted the name of their new hero, Cheema, while the Canadian team basked in this new acclaim, circling the boundary signing autographs and chatting with supporters.
Shoaib Ahktar of Pakistan during the final against Sri Lanka
Ajantha Mendis was Man Of The Tournament, winning a Dubai condominium from Al Barakah, the Middle East property company sponsoring the event. Cricket Canada needs sponsors to support its ambitious plans, but despite worries the organisers would pander excessively to corporate interests, this was very much a fans' event. With the seed sown, more international cricket will be back, as Al Barakah has committed to supporting the event for the next five years.
The day after the final, clouds rolled in across Southern Ontario, and temperatures started to fall. Despite Mother Nature's benevolence this weekend, there's all round relief future events are due to take place between May and August.
John Holmes
Copyright: Cover Point
