Zimbabwe show Canada their place

The phrase 'well begun is half done' cannot be more misleading than on a cricket field. Canada began by claiming the wicket of Zimbabwe opener Brendan Taylor off the first ball of the match and then lost their way in an attempt to consolidate their position. Abhijeet Kulkarni reports.

The phrase 'well begun is half done' cannot be more misleading than on a cricket field. Canada began by claiming the wicket of Zimbabwe opener Brendan Taylor off the first ball of the match and then lost their way in an attempt to consolidate their position.

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Having sent back the openers with just seven runs on the board and the new ball still assisting the seamers, Canada captain Ashish Bagai inexplicably introduced off-spinner Jimmy Hansra in the eighth over and the change of pace changed Zimbabwe's fortunes.

Former captain Tatenda Taibu (98) and Craig Ervine (85) launched a counter-attack against Hansra and once they found the rhythm, it was an uphill task for the Canada bowlers to stem the flow of runs.

The left-right combination added 181 for the third wicket and set Zimbabwe up for a 175 run victory over the World Cup minnows.

Only former India 'A' player Balaji Rao managed to put some pressure on Zimbabwe and claimed four wickets in the bargain but even his effort went begging as Canada's batsmen failed to put up a semblance of a fight.