Bengaluru, March 16: Brett Lee starred with four wickets while Shane Watson and Brad Haddin put on a mammoth 183 runs for the first wicket as Australia cruised to a seven-wicket victory against Canada in a Group A 2011 ICC World Cup encounter. Watson, who scored 94 runs and took one wicket, was given the Man-of-the-Match award.
Canada captain Ashish Bagai won the toss and opted to bat first at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The Canadian top order batsmen got a few starts – Hiral Patel (54), Zubin Surkari (34), Bagai (39) – but they could not convert those into bigger scores and wickets were lost all too frequently. Owing to a woeful display by the middle-order – Jimmy Hansra (3), Rizwan Cheema (2) and Nitish Kumar (7) – Canada folded for a modest 211 in 45.4 overs.
Brett Lee spearheaded the Australian bowling attack taking the wickets of John Davison (14), Cheema, Karl Whatham (18) and Balaji Rao (5).
The Australian openers, Watson and Haddin, had no difficulty in going about the run chase. Watson smashed four sixes in his innings of 94 while Haddin hit two in his knock of 88. Their partnership of 183 came at the brisk rate of 6.34 and even though both openers fell in quick succession, Michael Clarke (16*) and Cameron White (4*) took Australia home with seven wickets and 91 deliveries to spare.
With yet another win under their belt, Australia not only retain their top spot in Group A but are also the only unbeaten side of the 2011 ICC World Cup. Canada, who have now played all their group games of the tournament, have managed only two points in their six outings.
Brief scores: Australia 212 for 3 in 34.5 overs (Shane Watson 94, Brad Haddin 88, John Davison 1/29) beat Canada 211 all out in 45.4 overs (Hiral Patel 54, Ashish Bagai 39, Brett Lee 4/46, Jason Krezja 2/44) by seven wickets
Man-of-the-match: Shane Watson for his innings of 94 and bowling figures of 6-0-22-1
