Chumney stacks on the runs
Spurred on by a bludgeoned 112 from opener Desmond Chumney, Canada annihilated a tired-looking Argentina by 197 runs at the National Sports Centre yesterday.
On a sluggish wicket which turned square from the start but otherwise behaved itself, Argentina?s bowlers once again struggled to find a consistent line and length, sending down a succession of full-tosses and long hops which were gleefully set upon by a rampant Canadian top-order.
Both skipper John Davison and Chumney ? whose century was the tournament?s first ? drove powerfully down the ground and through mid-wicket, clearing the leg side boundary on several occasions with steepling sixes.
The Argentine?s fielding remained enthusiastic and tidy throughout but their bowlers simply had no answer to the aggressive onslaught.
Davison was eventually out, stumped after attempting one big-shot too many off the friendly off-spin of Diego Forrester.
But by then Canada were on 137 and well on the way to a winning total.
Don Maxwell (18), Zubin Surkeri (28), Ashish Bayai (18) and Sunil Dhaniram (22) all made important contributions, while Esteban MacDermott (3 for 40) was the only Argentine bowler who remotely threatened.
Batting second, Canadian skipper Davison confounded expectations by choosing not to open the bowling as he had done effectively the day before against The Bahamas, but his two seamers Ashish Patel (2 for 15) and Austin Codrington (1 for 16) certainly did not let him down.
Displaying minimal footwork and poor judgement, no Argentinian batsman successfully got to grips with the conditions and against the dual-spin attack of Davison and Zahid Hussain resorted to either groping forward desperately from the crease or charging recklessly.
Davison, who recorded the second best first-class figures of all time when he took 17 wickets last month against the USA in the Inter-Continental Cup, bowled with control and good variation throughout while the left-armer Hussain turned the ball sharply off the crusty surface.
Canada now move on to face neighbours USA at Lord?s today, which should prove an interesting encounter while the Argentinians will be hoping to breathe some life into their so far uninspired campaign against Cayman at the Southampton Oval.