KING CITY, Ont. — Harsh Thaker scored 57 runs not out and Saad Bin Zafar took five wickets to help Canada to a dominant 121-run victory over Malaysia in ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League A play Sunday.
Canada won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Rayyan Pathan scored 49 and Shreyas Movva added 39 as Canada finished 239 for eight after its 50 overs.
Malaysia was all out for 118 in the 30th over.
The six-team tournament, which runs through Aug. 7 at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club, is part of the World Cup qualifying process. Denmark, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore and Vanuatu are also taking part.
The Canadian men, who previously defeated Denmark and Singapore, take on Qatar on Wednesday.
The Challenge Leagues are a 2 1/2-year competition involving 12 teams considered three steps away from the 2023 World Cup. The King City event was originally slated to be held last August but was pushed back due to the pandemic.
There are two Challenge Leagues, A and B, each comprising six teams that play 15 matches each over two years. Canada is in Group A while Group B is made up of Bermuda, Hong Kong, Italy, Jersey, Kenya and Uganda.
Canada currently tops Group A at 7-1 while Uganda heads Group B at 8-2.
The top team in each league at the end of the competition will secure two of the six places in the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff to be held later in 2022, alongside the bottom four of Men’s CWC League 2. The top two teams from the playoff continue in the hunt to participate in India 2023.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2022
