Pakistan’s Over-60s side secured a five-wicket victory over hosts Canada in its fourth fixture at the IMC Over-60s World Cup, played on Monday. Pakistan skipper Fawad Ijaz Khan won the toss and chose to field first. A decision that proved successful as Pakistan went on to chase the 202 runs target set by Canada.
After being invited into batting first, Canada built their innings around an excellent century from captain Graham Castanheiro, who played a knock of 107 off 118 balls, striking eight boundaries in the process. Support from the rest of the order proved difficult to come by, with Farooq Kirmani the next best contributor with 22 off 57 deliveries. Kenny Girdharry remained unbeaten on 17 as Canada closed on 201-7 from their 45 overs. Syed Zafar Ali was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers, returning figures of 3-31 from his nine overs, while Mahfooz Ullah Khan chipped in with 2-39. Jaffar Qureshi and Saghir Abbas also took one wicket each.
Chasing 202 for victory, Pakistan were given a brisk start by their opening pair. Mazhar Hussain struck 60 off 60 balls with six fours, while Sajid Ali played a measured innings of 62 from 72 deliveries, the pair sharing a century opening stand that put the chase firmly on course. Muhammad Ashraf Pakhali added a quick 30 off 28 balls, but Pakistan lost three wickets in short order, briefly threatening to disrupt the momentum of the chase. Saghir Abbas held the innings together in the closing stages with an unbeaten 39 off 52 balls, guiding Pakistan to their target with five wickets and more than seven overs in hand, reaching 202-5 in 37.3 overs. Graham Castanheiro was the most successful of the Canada bowlers with 2-8 from his two overs, while Suresh Nair, Mukesh Narula and Kenny Girdharry each picked up a wicket. Graham Castanheiro was declared Player of the Match for his splendid all-round performance.
In other results from the day, Group A saw South Africa overcome Sri Lanka by seven wickets and Australia sweep aside IMC Emerging XI by eight wickets. In Pool B, Scotland defeated West Indies by six wickets, England held off India by eight runs and New Zealand cruised past USA by 69 runs.
