Nicholas Kirton scored 51 runs and Ravinderpal Singh added 41 to help Canada defeat Nepal by 63 runs in a warm-up match Monday ahead of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Canadian cricket team captain Saad Bin Zafar waves flanked by teammates Nicholas Kirton, left, and Jeremy Gordon, right, after throwing out the first pitch at the Toronto Blue Jays game against the Minnesota Twins, in Toronto, Friday, May 10, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
DALLAS – Nicholas Kirton scored 51 runs and Ravinderpal Singh added 41 to help Canada defeat Nepal by 63 runs in a warm-up match Monday ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Kirton slammed four fours and two sixes in his 39-ball innings. Opener Navneet Dhaliwal contributed 32 runs.
Nepal, ranked 17th among T20 teams compared to No. 23 for Canada, won the toss and elected to field at the Grande Prairie Cricket Stadium.
Canada finished at 183 for seven in its 20 overs and then dismissed Nepal for 120 with three balls remaining. Dillon Heyliger led the Canadian bowling attack with four wickets while Jeremy Gordon and captain Saad Bin Zafar each took two.
Nepal was at 57 for one at one point, before batsmen starting falling in quick succession.
The Canadians will open play at the same Texas venue Saturday, facing the co-host U.S. in the opener of the tournament that runs through June 29 in the U.S. and West Indies.
Earlier this year, Canada lost a three-match one-day international series 3-0 to Nepal before defeating Nepal A 2-1 in another three-game series.
Canada is scheduled to face the 15th-ranked Netherlands in a final warm-up Thursday, also in Dallas.
The Canadians have been drawn in Group A with No. 1 India, No. 7 Pakistan, No. 11 Ireland and the 19th-ranked U.S.
After the Americans, Canada will meet Ireland on June 7 and Pakistan on June 11, with both games in suburban New York, before wrapping up Group A play against India on June 15 in Lauderhill, Fla.
The top two teams in each group move on to the Super Eights, to be played in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The two top teams from each pool in the Super Eight then move on to the semifinals in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago on June 26 and 27, respectively. The final will be held June 29 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
First-round matches in the U.S. will be split between Nassau County International Cricket Stadium (New York), Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium (Dallas) and Broward County Stadium (Lauderhill).
West Indies, which hosted the event in 2010, will hold matches at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (Antigua and Barbuda), Kensington Oval (Barbados), Guyana National Stadium (Guyana), Daren Sammy Cricket Ground (Saint Lucia), Arnos Vale (Saint Vincent and The Grenadines) and Brian Lara Cricket Academy (Trinidad and Tobago).
The Canadians qualified for their first T20 World Cup in October, defeating Bermuda by 39 runs to win the four-team ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Americas Region Final. Canada and Bermuda both finished with 4-1-0 records with one no-result. But Canada, which lost to Bermuda by 86 runs in its opening match, won the tournament by a superior net run rate (3.98 to 2.41).
The Canadians failed to qualify for the eight previous editions of the T20 World Cup, which has expanded to 20 teams in 2024.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2024
