ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

AFGHANISTAN v CANADA Afghanistan were without their pace bowlers, Hamid Hassan and Dawlat Ahmadzai, for this their first match on their temporary home ground, courtesy of the Sharjah Cricket Association. Canada’s opening pair were untroubled by the opening attack and Afghanistan were soon forced to turn to spin. Mohammad Nabi accounted for Jyoti with the score on 61. Nitish Kumar began uncertainly but had settled in by lunch, taken on 107 for one, with Trevin Bastiampillai having passed his half-century. The latter fell to the leg spinner, Samiullah Shenwari, but that was the only success for Afghanistan in the afternoon. Kumar and Ashish Bagai accumulated runs steadily and Afghanistan tried eight bowlers. The partnership of 155 extended either side of the tea interval before Shapoor Zadran achieved the breakthrough. Five runs later, Bagai departed seven runs short of his hundred. Another productive partnership between Ramesh David and Sunil Dhaniram was broken when David missed a leg break from Samiullah Shenwari and was bowled. The leg spinner then trapped Jimmy Hansra leg-before. With these late-session wickets, Afghanistan did just enough to prevent Canada from completely dominating the first day. Canada continued on relentlessly during the morning session of the second day, reaching 478 at lunch for the loss of Umar Bhatti and scoring at over a run a minute against the spin attack of Mohammad Nabi and Samiullah Shenwari, who bowled very tidily and did well to prevent the run rate getting out of hand. Dhaniram reached his hundred off 146 balls, with 13 fours and one six, and by the time the interval came, Rizwan Cheema was also looking confident. Early in the afternoon, Dhaniram and Cheema fell within four balls but, although Canada were on 495 for nine, they were far from finished. Khurram Chauhan and Hiral Patel, both far stronger batsmen than their position at numbers ten and eleven would imply, dominated, adding 71 runs in 51 minutes. Canada’s innings ended on 566, made at an impressive strike rate of 62.1; there was no individual hundred but ten batsmen reached 21 or more. Shabir Noori and Noor Ali survived the seven overs remaining before tea. After the interval, Shabir Noori adopted his obdurate mode whilst Afghanistan’s other batsmen tried to score runs quickly. The policy was broadly successful but three wickets were lost before the close of play with Afghanistan a daunting 456 runs behind. Shabir Noori and Mohammad Shahzad started well on the third day, hitting the bad balls and defending the good deliveries. Shabir Noori reached his fifty and then, surprisingly, was the first to depart, a victim of Kumar’s off spin and a good catch by wicketkeeper, Bagai. Afghanistan then made quick runs with a range of attractive strokes but lost wickets all too frequently. Mohammad Nabi was the only one to threaten a long stay at the crease but, after making 48 at a strike rate of 102.1, he ran out of partners. As with their batting, the Canadian bowling performance was an all-round effort; eight bowlers were used and five of them shared the wickets. With Canada 302 runs ahead, Bagai surprised everyone by not enforcing the follow-on. Although all the bowlers were tired and Umar Bhatti was injured, the decision still made little sense. Canada changed their batting order in the quest for quick runs. Their first wicket fell at 45 in only the twelfth over; Bastiampillai scored at a rate of 78.4 for his 73 and with contributions from Jyoti and David, they were able to declare after 40 overs, setting Afghanistan a target of 494 runs and a difficult 45 minutes of batting before the close. Karim Sadiq and Noor Ali survived this, accumulating 40 runs in the process. Most cricket watchers thought that Afghanistan would do well to bat the whole day and achieve a draw. They made 144 runs in the morning session, losing both openers but batting in a controlled manner, keeping the run rate moving and taking few chances. Mohammad Shahzad and Nawroz Mangal batted superbly in the afternoon, scoring at close to five an over, even though Canada’s fielders were keeping boundary shots to the minimum. Thirty minutes before tea, Nawroz Mangal gave a return catch to David. Afghanistan promoted Mohammad Nabi to number five and he and Mohammad Shahzad gradually accelerated the scoring rate. With 16 overs remaining, 101 runs were required; by the time 10 overs were left, only 53 were needed. Mohammad Nabi reached his fifty and Mohammad Shahzad his double-century. After Mohammad Nabi perished on the long off boundary, Asghar Stanikzai hit the second ball he received for six, soon to be followed by another, and then a cut past point for four to obtain the winning runs with fourteen balls remaining. Bagai must have regretted losing the initiative by not enforcing the follow-on but he could not have foreseen the remarkable performance by Afghanistan on the last day. Mohammad Shahzad was unbeaten on 214, made in five hours and twenty-seven minutes at a strike rate of 82.9. He deservedly received the Man-of-the-Match award. Canada’s first-innings total of 566 was the second-highest in first-class cricket for a side going on to lose the game; Afghanistan’s second-innings total was the ninth-highest achieved in the fourth innings to win the match. 198 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10