Welsh leads Canada to good position against UAE

Steve Welsh swung Canada into a commanding position in its ICC Intercontinental Cup match againt the United Arab Emirates in Toronto yesterday (Friday), taking seven wickets and setting up a first innings win for his side.

The opening bowler took the first five UAE wickets as the visitors were bundled out for 112 runs. Welsh ended with 7-42, easily his best first-class figures.

Having won the toss and deciding to bat first, only wicketkeeper-batsman Gayan Silva put up any real resistance for the UAE, top scoring with 34.

Canada replied with 123-4 by the close of play, a lead of 11 runs, to make sure six points were already in the bag by the end of day one.

Canada will be hoping to bat for a long time on the second day, and possibly into the third day, to secure a match-winning position.

Qaiser Ali scored 42 runs for Canada. Trevin Bastiampillai, 29 runs not out, and Asif Mulla, 28 runs not out, will resume the Canadian innings on Saturday. The match is scheduled for four days. Play begins at 10.30 am at Maple Leaf CC, King City.

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.