Tired limbs go to battle one final time
Ireland desperate for the one Associate title that eludes it as Canada seeks revenge for defeats past In the play-offs Kenya faces Netherlands, Scotland takes on Afghanistan and Namibia plays UAE Live ball-by-ball scoring from all matches throughout the 19-day tournament is offered on the event website; free-to-use photos will be available from tomorrow’s final; video clips available on event website and highlight packages onhttp://www.nuview.tv
After 18 days of grueling, passionate, high-stakes cricket, the players of the top eight teams must pick themselves up for one last tilt, one more chance to show the cricketing world what they can do.
For Ireland and Canada, who will contest tomorrow’s final at Centurion, it is an opportunity to do what no one else from their respective countries have ever done and that is to lift the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier trophy.
Ireland sailed close four years ago but on that occasion was narrowly outplayed by Scotland in the final at Dublin’s Castle Avenue ground while Canada’s record is also of one unsuccessful appearance in the final. On that occasion, in 1979, Canada went down by 60 runs to Sri Lanka.
One person who was not even born in 1979 is the current Canada captain, Ashish Bagai, but the 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman is still keen to put the maple leaf-adorned flag in the winner’s column for the first time.
“This is what we are here for,” said Bagai. “Gaining qualification for the World Cup was great but that is in the bag now. It’s not every day you get to play in a major final and we want to win it,” he said.
With bodies aching and injuries taking their toll on both sides, Bagai knows the value of rest at this stage of the event.
“We have had a day off today. It has been a long and tiring few weeks so we have taken the day before the final off both physically and mentally and then we will come back strong on Sunday for the final ready to go.
“The games we have won here our batting has delivered. We have put up scores of 250-plus. If we can do that in the final then I think our bowlers will back us up as they have throughout the tournament.
“Losing him (John Davison) in the first round was a bit of a blow but someone has always stood up when it has mattered without him. The top six have all won the man of the match as various stages, for example, so that has been great for us. Someone is going to deliver tomorrow.
“A century for me in the final would definitely be the icing on the cake but if anyone delivers for us, I’ll be happy with that,” he said.
Canada was swept aside less than two years ago by Ireland in the final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup and it also lost to William Porterfield’s men in the group stage of this event. So Bagai and co. will be out for revenge.
And standing in their way this time will be an Ireland team that has dominated the world of Associate cricket in recent years. Having won the four-day Intercontinental Cup three times in a row and having qualified in joint-top position (with the Netherlands) for the ICC World Twenty20 2009, a win tomorrow would give the Irish a strong case to call themselves the best Associate team in the world across all formats.
Although making it to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was the primary goal of every team ahead of this event, Ireland coach Phil Simmons gives the aura of a man not ready to go home with a runners-up medal.
“We didn’t come here to qualify – we came here to win a tournament and that’s still on. Sunday is our final and that’s what we’re here for – to win,” said the former West Indies Test all-rounder.
“The players are enjoying playing this tournament and winning and I think that’s the whole thing. At the beginning of the tournament that’s what we spoke about – not qualification, but winning the trophy.
“I know we haven’t won this title before. We hadn’t qualified outside of Ireland but we’ve broken one hoo-doo so we are on to the next one now.
“Every day is a different day. We just have to come along on Sunday and perform our basics and our duties as best we can and if it’s a case of Canada playing better than us then we are beaten but so far we have done well and we are going to come back and do our best in the final.”
Elsewhere, there are two other ODIs being played as Kenya and the Netherlands fight it out in the third/fourth-place play-off at Potchefstroom and Scotland takes on Afghanistan in the fifth/sixth-place play-off at Benoni. This will be Afghanistan’s first-ever ODI and Scotland will be looking for revenge after suffering defeat to Norooz Mangal’s men in the Super Eight stage.
The other game of the day – which is not an ODI – is the seventh/eighth-place play-off between Namibia and United Arab Emirates at LC de Villiers Oval, Pretoria.
Sunday’s fixtures
Ireland v Canada (Final, ODI, Centurion), Netherlands v Kenya (third/fourth-place play-off, ODI, Potchefstroom), Scotland v Afghanistan (fifth/sixth-place play-off, ODI, Benoni), UAE v Namibia (seventh/eighth-place play-off, LC de Villiers Oval).
Play in all games starts at 0930 (SA time).
Rights-free audio interviews with Canada captain Ashish Bagai and Ireland coach Phil Simmons are available for download at the event website http://iccworldcupqualifier.yahoo.net/.
For full scorecards of previous games and more details go to http://iccworldcupqualifier.yahoo.net/.