Ervine century puts Zimbabwe XI in control

Craig Ervine smashed a brilliant century against Canada and towered over his teammates on the second day of the four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup match played at Maple Leaf North-West Ground, Toronto on Tuesday.

Beginning the day at 88-3, the visitors were made to toil by the bowlers led by Umar Bhatti, who returned with brilliant figures of 6-98. However, Ervine top-scored with 177 to lead his side to 351 all out in 97 overs, with the second best score being Shingirai Masakadza's 35.

Canada's second innings began on a poor note when it lost quick early wickets in Hiral Patel (7), Nitish Kumar (6) and Sandeep Jyoti (1). Trevin Bastiampillai (17) and Hemnarine Chattergoon (7) remained unbeaten as the hosts finished at a shaky 49-3.

Tendai Chatara picked up 2-7 as Zimbabwe maintained a 173-run lead with seven more wickets to get.

Zimbabwe XI is currently third in the points table with 43 points from three games, which includes wins over Kenya by five wickets and Netherlands by 137 runs, and a drawn match against Afghanistan.

The hosts currently lie at the bottom of the points table with nine points from four games. It suffered losses to Scotland by 29 runs, Kenya by 247 runs, Afghanistan by six wickets and a drawn match against the Netherlands.