Amin Fifer And Dhaniram (46*) Lead West Indies To Championship

By Ravendra Madholall in Canada
A five-wicket haul from left-arm orthodox spinner Zamin Amin and an entertaining, unbeaten 46 from Sudesh Dhaniram were enough to spur West Indies to a commanding eight-wicket win over Canada in the final of the Tri-lateral over-50 series on Friday.

At a sunlit Danville ground in Mississauga, Toronto, West Indies gleefully reached 148-2 in the 31st over replying to the hosts’ moderate 146 all out in 44.3 off the allotted 45-over affair.

After Canada were invited to bat first on a placid pitch, they succumbed easily to Amin who grabbed 5-22 from 8.3 probing overs. Mohan Harihar, a seamer, once again responsible for an early breakthrough leaving Canada at 29-2 before the ex-Guyana Youth player Amin started to wreak havoc. Vishaul De Mel, however, showed some composure in the middle to hit a top-score of 48. Rohan Jayasekera offered resistance too by making 34. Harihar supported the destructive Amin with 2-20 from his maximum nine overs.

West Indies began their chase in a clinical fashion. Rajendra Sadeo and Krishna Harricharran posted a rapid 54-run stand. Both displayed confidence during their stay with scores of 33 and 29 respectively. They departed in quick succession to give the Canadians a slim hope of bouncing back but the experience of Dhaniram and Shiv Seeram prevailed. Dhaniram, a former national Guyana opening batsman, mixed aggression with defense.

The elegant right-hander came in at number four and put together a solid, unbroken 62-run third-wicket stand with Seeram, who made an impressive 29. Dhaniram, who scored 60 in the final preliminary round match against the other participating team USA on Wednesday, played positively, striking nine fours inclusive of four consecutive boundaries. Amin was named player-of-the-match for outstanding bowling performance.

Meanwhile, the three countries along with a Canada Select X1 featured on round-robin basis. They (West Indies, USA and Canada) were using the four-day organized tournament as part of their preparations for next year’s International Cricket Council over-50 World Cup billed for South Africa in November.