Cricket with Dalchand Bissoon 

Canada defeated Suriname by 62 runs in their opening match of the ICC Americas Region Division One Twenty Tournament last Sunday at World Sports Park, Indianapolis.

Canada sent in to bat scored 121 for eight wickets in their 20 overs with skipper Rizwan Cheema topscoring with 34. Hamza Tariq made 16 and Jimmy Hansra chipped in with 15. S. Drepaul and T. Dudnath picked up two wickets each.

Suriname in reply scored only 59 for nine wickets in their 20 overs. Nikhil Dutta took four for eight in his four overs and Junaid Siddiqui two for seven.

Canada, playing in their second match on Monday, defeated Bermuda by 34 runs (D/L method). Canada elected to bat scored 143 for eight wickets in their 20 overs with opener Ravindu Gunasekera topscoring with 62, Rizwwan Cheema made 29 and Nitish Kumar scored 20. J. Robinson took three for 13.

Bermuda, needing 105 runs from 13 overs to win (D/L method), only managed 70 in 13 overs, losing eight wickets. J. Tucker made 20 and T. Mandes undefeated on 17. Cecil Pervez, J. Hansra and N.Dutta picked up two wickets each.

Playing in their third game on Tuesday, Canada defeated the U.S. by six wickets. USA scored 127 for nine wickets in their 20 overs with opener Steven Taylor topscoring with 46 and his opening partner Fahad Barber made 31. C. Pervez took three for nine and N. Dutta two for 24.

Canada in reply scored 131 for four wickets in 18.4 overs with R. Gunasekera topscoring with 51. Nitish Kumar made 32 and R. Cheema 20.

Canada was to play Suriname again today (May 7). Bermuda plays tomorrow (May 8) and their final match is Saturday (May 9) against the U.S.

Canada with three wins and no loss are on their way for a play-off spot for this summer’s World T20 Qualifier in Ireland and Scotland.