Mangesh Panchal spins the Netherlands to a 45-run victory over Canada in ICC Intercontinental Cup

Mangesh Panchal made a dream first-class debut when he bowled the Netherlands to an impressive 45-run victory over Canada in the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 match on the fourth and last day at the Maple Leaf South-East Ground in Toronto today (Sunday).

The 33-year-old wrist spinner bagged four wickets for 50 runs from his 11 overs as the home team, chasing 271 for an outright victory, was bowled out for 225 after resuming at 44-2.

Panchal's scalps included Canada top scorer Qaiser Ali, Asif Mulla, Ashish Patel and Umar Bhatti as the Netherlands completed a brilliant come-from-behind victory after conceding a 40-run first innings lead.

The final day's play was always going to be a thrilling one and it lived up to its expectations. After Canada made a cautious start, it lost its way shortly before lunch when it lost three quick wickets to slump from 105-2 to 131-5.

Captain Ashish Bagai and Sunil Dhaniram put Canada back on track by adding 43 runs for the sixth wicket but another multiple jolt reduced it from 174-5 to 177-7. Bagai and Ashish Patel added 34 runs for the eighth wicket to take the score to 211 but the dismissal of the two in a space of three balls left the Canadians staring right in the eyes of defeat.

Panchal deservingly picked up the last Canadian wicket when he deceived an injured Umar Bhatti with a wrong 'un to end the home team's challenge and a brilliant 45-run victory for the Netherlands.

Besides Panchal, Mark Jonkman claimed 2-38 while Edgar Schiferli, Peter Borren and Adeel Raja bagged a wicket each.

For Canada, Qaiser Ali was the main run-getter with a 103-ball 53 that included seven boundaries. Together with Trevin Bastiampillai, Ali put on 85 runs for the third wicket with Bastiampillai's contribution being a 106-ball 46 with six hits to the fence.

Baqai chipped in with 38 while Sunil Dhaniram followed up his first innings 73 with another valuable knock of 30 from 39 balls with six boundaries.

The victory earned the Dutch 14 points while the Canadians had to settle for six points due to their first innings lead.

Canada will now host the United Arab Emirates at the same venue from Friday while the Dutch will travel to Aberdeen later this month to lock horns with Scotland in a match that starts on 31 July.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup has quickly grown in stature and profile since its inception three years ago and now 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.