Borren's maiden century puts the Dutch on course for a come-from-behind victory

A maiden first-class century by Peter Borren put the Netherlands on course for a come-from-behind victory over Canada in the ICC Intercontinental Cup match at Toronto's Maple Leaf South-East Ground today (Saturday).

Borren, playing his 3rd match at this level, hit a polished 105 to steer the tourists to 310, setting Canada a 271-run victory target. When the stumps were drawn for the penultimate day, the home team was struggling at 44-2 and required another 266 runs for maximum points with Umar Bhatti, who has a fractured thumb, unlikely to bat.

The Dutch, trailing the Canadians by 40 runs on the first innings, started the third day's play with their backs against the wall at 50-3 and immediately slumped into further trouble when Henry Osinde picked up two quick wickets to leave the tourists tottering at 66-5.

However, Borren and Mudassar Bukhari got into a rescue act and repaired the damage by putting on 138 runs for the sixth wicket. The partnership ended when Mudassar became Shahzad Khan's second victim after scoring a sedate 33.

After Mudassar's departure, Borren found another good ally in Jeroen Smits with whom he put on 73 priceless runs for the seventh wicket. The stand was broken when Ashishkumar Patel ended Borren's quality innings by having him caught at the wicket by captain Ashish Bagai for a well played 105.

Borren, whose previous best of 49 was also against the Canadians last year, batted for 208 minutes during which he faced 175 deliveries. His chanceless innings was studded with 17 boundaries and a six.

Smits immediately joined Borren in the dressing room as the Dutch collapsed from 211-6 to 211-8 as the double breakthrough brought the smiles back on the Canadian faces. Nevertheless, those smiles soon disappeared when the last two Netherlands wickets added 99 invaluable runs.

Mark Jonkman and Edgar Schiferli put on 45 runs for the ninth wicket and then Jonkman and Mangesh Panchal added 54 runs for the last wicket. Jonkman dominated both the partnerships while scoring an unbeaten 96-ball 43 that spiced seven boundaries. Schiferli contributed 23 and Panchal chipped in with 14 before being the last-man out.

For the Canadians, Henry Osinde and Kevin Sandher picked up three wickets each while Ashishkumar Patel and Shahzad Khan equally shared the remaining wickets between them.

Chasing a target of 271, the home team made a disasterous start when Geoff Barnett was run-out before Canada had open its account and 20 runs later, last innings half centurion Shahzad Khan was adjudged leg before to Borren.

Trevin Bastiampillai (21) and Qaiser Ali (14) took Canada to close of play without any further damage.

With Canada needing another 266 runs and the Netherlands requiring eight wickets, the last day of the match is all set for an enthralling finish.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup has quickly grown in stature and profile since its inception three years ago and now the ICC's premier first-class tournament is an integral part of the Associate Members' cricket schedule.

Having previously been designed around a two-group, three-day format, the event has evolved into an eight-team, round-robin and truly global tournament featuring four-day cricket which gives those teams who do not play Test cricket the chance to experience the longer form of the game.

Scotland won the first ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2004, beating Canada in the final, while Ireland has been victorious in both events since then, beating Kenya in the 2005 decider and Canada earlier this year in the 2006-07event.

The final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 will take place in November 2008 at a venue yet to be decided.