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Scorecard
Gareth Berg and John Simpson celebrate Middlesex’s successful chase•Getty Images

Middlesex clinched the Second Division title with a five-wicket win over rock-bottom Leicestershire at Grace Road. They made heavy weather of chasing down a victory target of 124, slumping to 90 for 5 after losing five wickets for 33 runs in an 11-over spell, but wicketkeeper John Simpson and all-rounder Gareth Berg finally saw them home with a flurry of boundaries.Simpson hit six fours in his unbeaten 27 and Berg crashed two sixes and a four in a quickfire 19.It gave Middlesex their eighth win of the season and they will be back in Division One for the first time since being relegated in 2006.Middlesex had started the final day looking for a quick victory with Leicestershire on 222 for 7, leading by just 37 runs. But it took them 22.2 overs to claim the last three wickets, with Leicestershire adding another 84 runs.From the moment Ned Eckersley hit the first ball of the day from Ollie Rayner to the boundary, Leicestershire showed they were not going to make things easy for Middlesex. Eckersley and Jigar Naik shared a stand of 38 for the eighth wicket before Corey Collymore had Naik lbw.Nathan Buck then joined Eckersley in a ninth-wicket stand of 44 to further frustrate Middlesex. Eckersley reached his second half-century of the game off 98 balls with a six and four fours before holing out to long-off as he tried another big hit against Rayner. Buck was last man out, edging Steven Crook to first slip, and Leicestershire’s total of 306 left Middlesex the modest target of 124.They looked in no trouble when Andrew Strauss and Sam Robson put on 44 runs in seven overs before lunch but then a nervy collapse began soon after the interval. Robson was trapped lbw by Naik with the total at 57 and when Strauss was caught behind off Wayne White for 30, the nerves really kicked in.Dawid Malan was run out without scoring and White picked up two more wickets, having Jamie Dalrymple lbw and Chris Rogers caught at point as Middlesex slumped to 90 for 5. But Simpson and Berg suddenly cut loose in an unbroken sixth-wicket stand to enable the celebrations to start.White finished with an impressive 3 for 36 while Naik, who claimed 1 for 52, has been rewarded for an impressive season with a new two-year deal by Leicestershire, who fly out tomorrow to Hyderabad for the T20 Champions League competition in India.

Sri Lanka have dropped promising batsman Dinesh Chandimal, allrounder Thisara Perera and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath from the squad for the final two one-dayers against Australia, who lead the series 2-1. Seekkuge Prasanna, the 26-year-old legspinner, has been called up and has to fly back from England, where he was representing Sri Lanka A.The other major news was that vice-captain Angelo Mathews, who missed the third ODI due to an injury is fit for the remaining matches. “He should be alright for the rest of the series,” Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said. “He could have even played on Tuesday, but we didn’t want to take a risk. If something had happened he would have been ruled out for two months. He has got three more days to recover from the injury. Angelo is a key member of our side and when he goes out it’s a big loss.”Chandimal, 21, had made an unbeaten century at Lord’s and 54 in the deciding game of the ODI series against England last month, but suffered a string of failures since, managing only 41 in four innings.Perera played only one ODI since his hard-hitting cameo in the World Cup final, with the role of the third fast bowler to be filled by either Mathews, Suranga Lakmal or Shaminda Eranga, who made an impact on debut in the third ODI on Tuesday. Herath has also had only one ODI since the World Cup, with the emergence of legspinning allrounder Jeevan Mendis and the spin pair of Ajantha Mendis and Suraj Randiv limiting his opportunities.Herath’s place in the squad was taken by Prasanna, who hit the headlines on Sunday with a six-wicket haul against England A. Prasanna plays for the Sri Lanka Army, impressing in their youth ranks before making his domestic one-day debut in 2006. He built up an outstanding List A record over the past five years, taking 73 wickets at 18.38 in 45 matches.Squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Chamara Silva, Nuwan Kulasekera, Lasith Malinga, Shaminda Eranga, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Suraj Randiv

Scorecard
An unbeaten 89 from Kyle Coetzer guided Scotland to a five-wicket win and a 2-0 clean sweep of their one-day international series against Netherlands in the second match at Mannofield Park in Abderdeen. Coetzer weathered the early losses of Fraser Watts and Calum Macleod to secure the win with 11 balls remaining in a rain-affected game, and upstaged the earlier efforts of Netherlands captain Peter Borren, who had rescued his side from a perilous 54 for 6 with an unbeaten 71.There was also an impressive performance from 20-year-old Scotland debutant Safyaan Sharif, whose brisk seamers caused trouble to the Netherlands top order after they had been put in to bat by Scotland captain Gordon Drummond. Sharif nipped out Netherlands’ top three for single-digit scores in his opening spell to reduce the visitors to 22 for 3.Gordon Goudie’s seamers brought him two wickets in consecutive overs, and Richie Berrington then broke the back of the middle order by yorking Tom Cooper, whose 75 had very nearly inspired a Netherlands win in the first match. Borren and Tom Heggelman cautiously began to repair the damage, taking what risk-free runs were on offer to add 54 for the seventh wicket before Heggelman tried to break the shackles with an expansive shot that only resulted in an edge through to wicketkeeper Gregor Maiden in the 40th over.His dismissal brought the big-hitting Mudassar Bukhari to the crease, and the batting Powerplay was immediately called for. Not a single boundary was hit in the next five overs, however, and it was not until Borren broke free with two fours in Coetzer’s ninth over – the first of which took him to fifty – that the runs began to flow. Bukhari added a slogged six and a deftly cut four before he picked out long-on, and Netherlands’ 180 for 9 represented something of a recovery, considering what dire straits they had been in.Bukhari carried his fight into his bowling performance, finding the inside edge of Watts’ bat and yorking Macleod to reduce Scotland to a shaky 14 for 2. Josh Davey gave Coetzer good support to spark a recovery, and they had not been parted when rain stopped play in the 17th over, with the interruption resulting in a loss of nine overs and a revised target of 162 in 41 overs.Davey departed soon after the resumption, having helped put on 57 for the third wicket, and Netherlands continued to chip away at the middle order but Coetzer continued to find the boundary, bringing up his fifty from 63 deliveries. He took Scotland within touching distance of the win with a slog-swept six off Cooper’s offspin before sealing the result with a scything drive through the covers with just under two overs remaining.

Sri Lanka Cricket is seeking government grants and a soft loan to meet part of the amount it spent on co-hosting the 2011 World Cup, according to sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage.”Sri Lanka Cricket ran out of funds after hosting the World Cup and sought government help to settle some payments,” Aluthgamage said. SLC has asked for a grant of two billion rupees ($18.35 million) and a loan of 1.5 billion rupees ($13.75 million) from the state-run Bank of Ceylon.Sri Lanka built two new grounds, one in Hambantota and the other in Pallekele, while the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo received an extensive renovation for hosting World Cup matches. “In total, we spent about five billion rupees ($46 million) to build the three World Cup venues,” Aluthgamage said.The board was forced to pledge the newly-built stadiums plus the income from upcoming tours as collateral to raise funds to pay for the World Cup. Sri Lanka hosted 12 games over the course of the tournament. SLC is expecting to get about $25 million from the ICC by way of hosting rights but will require government support to bridge the deficit.”It’s not a crisis situation yet. We are confident the government will help us out,” Aluthgamage said.

The England & Wales Cricket Board could be forced to put next summer’s disputed West Indies Test back out to tender, after they appeared to undermine their own bid process by accepting an offer from Glamorgan that was up to 40% less than the £1million put forward by the MCC.In a situation described by one board spokesman as “very delicate”, the ECB’s apparent desire to bolster the appeal of Test cricket in Wales has hit a number of stumbling blocks, with last month’s Test against Sri Lanka resulting in a reported loss of up to £1.5million.Glamorgan bid a hefty £2.5 million for the Sri Lanka Test, but a combination of poor weather and spectator apathy left their chairman, Paul Russell, talking of a “conceptual difficulty” in marketing the game outside of England.A meagre 922 spectators witnessed England’s remarkable victory on the final afternoon of the match, and the size of the loss has raised concerns that the county would not be able to bear the costs of hosting another five-day Test in 2012.The simple solution would be for Glamorgan and MCC to instigate a straight swap, with Lord’s taking over the West Indies rights for 2012, and Cardiff picking up the visit of New Zealand in the Ashes summer of 2013. However, with MCC themselves nursing a loss of £2.5 million for 2010-11, their own preference would be for the process to be put back out to tender. Given the current economic climate, they could expect to gain the rights for a knock-down price.According to Hampshire’s chairman, Rod Bransgrove, whose own county hosts their first Test match at the Rose Bowl on Thursday, the problem of marketing five-day cricket might not be limited to Glamorgan. He suspected that, in the long term, the ECB’s current preference for seven Tests a summer might have to be reconsidered.”I do think that seven Test matches every summer is a big ask,” Bransgrove told ESPNcricinfo. “Audiences are beginning to show us that’s a difficult quantity to sustain. But I do think that there is ample international cricket to go round the nine grounds that we now have, even if it means that everybody won’t have everything they want every year.”The one surefire crowd-puller remains the Ashes, with Durham already selling tickets for their 2013 contest to ease their cash-flow problems, even though the dates of the series have yet to be announced. However, the arrival of India in the second half of this summer promises to be a windfall for the cash-strapped counties, with ticket sales already topping 700,000.

Match facts

Monday, May 16, Navi Mumbai
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Can Pune keep their slender hopes alive?•AFP

Big Picture

Kolkata Knight Riders’ loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore has kept Pune Warriors’ wafer-thin chances of making the play-offs alive. They would need a host of results to go in their favour, apart from having to win their three remaining games by big margins to get their net run-rate up. That would seem an uphill task for a side that managed to lose seven consecutive matches earlier this season, but Pune have begun a semblance of a turnaround with two wins on the trot.Pune’s bowling attack has been responsible for these victories, keeping the opposition to modest totals which the batting has had no problems in chasing. Deccan Chargers bore the brunt of Mitchell Marsh’s four-wicket haul the last time these two sides met, in Hyderabad, but their surprise victory over Mumbai Indians would have given them some much-needed confidence. Deccan are already out of the reckoning for the play-offs. Can they spoil Pune’s chances in Kumar Sangakkara’s last IPL game this season?

Form guide (most recent first)

Pune Warriors: WWLLL (eighth on points table)
Deccan Chargers: WLLLL (ninth on points table)

Team talk

Pune made only one change to their XI in the previous game, with Sourav Ganguly finally coming in. There shouldn’t be any further changes tomorrow, and their four seamers should enjoy the bounce at the DY Patil Stadium.Deccan brought in Michael Lumb in place of Dale Steyn against Mumbai, and continued to persist with Daniel Christian, who made 18 off 23 deliveries. IPL debutant Anand Rajan was given the last over against Mumbai ahead of Christian. It’s a question that has been repeated throughout this season; will Sangakkara stick with Christian? Steyn should ideally return in his place.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team Selector.

In the spotlight

Manish Pandey has been mostly solid so far but has struggled to get away the big hits, with a strike-rate of 106.15 in seven matches. He showed some glimpses of his much-talked about potential with his 49 against Deccan in Hyderabad. Can he continue to provide starts for Pune along with Jesse Ryder?Amit Mishra was the reason why Deccan shocked Mumbai. Mishra hit Munaf Patel for four consecutive boundaries in the last over of Deccan’s innings before giving only 18 in his four overs for the wicket of Andrew Symonds. Pune would be wary of Deccan’s leading wicket-taker.

Prime numbers

• Pune are the only team without any batsman having scored 300 or more runs in this season
• Yuvraj Singh has hit 17 sixes, the fourth-most in this IPL

The chatter

“This is the first time I have seen Amit from up close keeping to him. He’s got all the tricks the legspinner should have. At the same time what is important for a leggie is that he’s got a huge heart, very strong character.”

With the IPL once again putting to test – and with largely one-sided results – the debate of club versus country, Daniel Vettori believes that an official window for the IPL in the sport’s annual calendar could settle the argument. One alternative for smaller boards would be to then go down the path that Vettori hopes New Zealand cricket will take when signing in on the Future Tours Programme for the next few years.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo in Delhi, Vettori said the controversies such as Chris Gayle’s spat with the West Indies board, and the discussions between the Indian and Sri Lankan boards over the early release of Lankans from the IPL for the England tour, would not arise if the IPL found its way into the international calendar as well.”For me, there’s a simple solution – you create a window for the IPL and all these probems go away, all the discourse and the conversations about it stops instantly,” Vettori said. “A number of people have been talking about it for a long, long time. That would be great, otherwise people will continually be put into these situations and it’s a tough decision.”A long-standing captain of New Zealand until he stepped down following the World Cup, Vettori leads the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. He pointed out the dilemma faced by international cricketers when having to choose between country and the IPL. “Everyone wants to play for their country,” he said. “But if you understand the amount of money that’s involved and its pressures, and sometimes the lack of certainty around your place in the team, it can make it [the decision] difficult. Like I said you can take all those things away by creating a small window around the IPL.”Vettori said New Zealanders had “missed big chunks” of the IPL in the first three seasons, because the team at the time was involved in New Zealand Cricket’s (NZC) previous FTP commitments, though they had largely been supportive of their players. He said NZC were looking to accommodate the IPL in their plans when the new cycle of the FTP comes around.”I think New Zealand is going to try in earnest to make sure that it [players missing out on IPL] doesn’t happen in the future and we hope so,” Vettori said. “We hope that that window is cleared out because the guys enjoy playing here and there’s financial security as well, which helps a lot.”West Indies and England have their international calendars directly overlapping with the IPL’s March-April schedule, but it is not yet certain whether the other ICC member boards would want to create their own tacit ‘windows’ when formulating their FTP arrangements in the coming months.Vettori’s position in the IPL is a unique one: he has stepped down from the New Zealand captaincy and retired from Twenty20 Internationals, but in the IPL he is leading a T20 outfit. His decision to quit Twenty20 internationals came from his desire to focus on his Test cricket. “It [retirement from T20Is] may not be a permanent thing,” he said. “At this point in time I would prefer to concentrate on Test cricket and be ready for it, we don’t actually play a lot of international Twenty20s so I’m not missing out on too much.”After captaining the team for such a long time, in some ways it is better to let the new captain find his feet without having the ex-captain in his face the whole time,” he said. “I think it will be a little bit easier for him coming in.” New Zealand are yet to name his successor with the two candidates for the job being Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor. Vettori, however, refrained from naming his choice.”My opinion is irrelvant because I don’t have any say; I’m good friends with both the guys and enjoy their captaincy styles. They’re both quite aggressive captains,” he said before correcting himself, “Well they’ve been aggressive vice-captains and I think they’ll do a really good job on the field.”The amount of time that is taken up outside of cricket and the pressures that come from there,” Vettori said, would be an “eye-opener” for the new captain. “That is always going to be the hardest thing to deal with, but they are both mature young men. So I think they will be good for New Zealand whoever they choose Ross or Brendon.”Bangalore have won two of their first six matches and Vettori has found the job of leading a team made up of a diverse group of players “probably more of a challenge” than captaining an international team. “In your national team you know everyone well, you know what to expect pretty much in a given situation,” he said. “In IPL, you are getting to know the guys all the time, you are learning all the time, as you have never seen some guys play before. You have to find out different things, so it’s probably more of a challenge captaining an IPL team than captaining an international team.”On Tuesday, Vettori will lead Bangalore against his old team the Delhi Daredevils, with both teams trying to climb up the points table. Vettori said the IPL remained “fluid” in the sense that “one man on his day” could decide games. “Your whole concept of where you are as a team changes so quickly,” Vettori said, referring to the impact of Chris Gayle’s century against Kolkata that took Bangalore up from second-last to fifth. “So if we win this next one, I think we are up to second or something like that.”Barring table-toppers like Mumbai Indians, Vettori said it still remained difficult for sides “to get a real grasp of where you are as a team, because the competition is so close”. He predicted that as the IPL drew closer to the semi-finals, there was a good chance that there would be “close to seven eight teams with something like seven wins and seven losses, or eight wins and six losses. It’s really hard to know where you are.” For the next eight hours or so, Vettori and Bangalore would just like to be on top of their game.

Cape Cobras were far and away the most powerful team in the competition with five victories and comfortably chased down their target of 151 to win in three days at Paarl. The success was set up Claude Henderson, the left-arm spinner, who took nine wickets in the match to take his season tally to 38. Warriors were restricted to 218 in their first innings and Cobras built a valuable 67-run lead with Owais Shah hitting 85 and Rory Kleinveldt an important 49 lower down the order after Simon Harmer’s offspin had caused problems. Harmer then top-scored for Warriors with an unbeaten 68 but couldn’t build a big enough run chase to trouble the Cobras.Titans did their best to complete a come-from-behind victory over Knights at Benoni after Obus Pienaar struck 212. Jacques Rudolph responded with an unbeaten 181 and when Knights slipped to 127 for 7 in their second innings it appeared Titans had a chance of a final-day run chase. However, Charl Pietersen led a lower-order rearguard which meant the target was eventually a very tough 346 in 69 overs. This time Rudolph fell for a duck and by the time rain ended the match Titans were struggling on 96 for 4.In the other match centuries from David Miller (149) and Daryn Smit (109) put Dolphins in charge as they amassed 476 for 8 at Durban then skittled Lions for 140 as Mthokozisi Shezi took 5 for 22. They followed-on and reached 72 for 1 but Dolphins were denied the chance to push for victory when rained washed out the final day.

Match Facts

February 22, Nagpur
Start time 14:30 local time (09:00 GMT)
The outfield is awash with orange as Ryan ten Doeschate warms up for the World Cup•AFP

Big Picture

Whisper it, but England owe the Netherlands a significant debt of favour. The last time these two teams met was at Lord’s in June 2009 on a soggy opening night of the World Twenty20, when Ryan ten Doeschate, Tom de Grooth, Edgar Schiferli and Co. inflicted a sensational humiliation on an England team who were still resettling after their Moores/Pietersen upheaval, and had yet to recognise the need to front up in all formats.It was a notable nadir, and a result that still ranks as one of the most abject moments in England’s often chequered history in ICC competitions. And yet, it was arguably the hurry-up that they needed. Since that night, England have gone on to win and retain the Ashes, they triumphed at the subsequent World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, and until last month’s ODI debagging in Australia, they had not lost a series in any format of the game since September 2009.Perhaps unsurprisingly, the memories of that evening have been surpressed by both teams in the build-up to this rematch. On the one hand, the Dutch have no wish to relinquish their comforting status as underdogs, but on the other, there is a widespread acceptance that England in 2011 are a very different proposition. They are not among the outright favourites for the World Cup by any stretch of the imagination, but neither should they be the makeweights who have disgraced every edition of the tournament since 1996.Netherlands could hardly wish for a more portentous venue than Nagpur, India’s so-called city of Oranges, although in a contest stretched over 100 overs rather than 40, England’s experience ought to tell in the end – just as it did against Canada in their inauspicious warm-up in Fatullah last week, and indeed in Peshawar 15 years ago, when the teenaged Bas Zuiderent stole the plaudits for his maiden fifty, if not the result. England were as bad as they’ve ever been in that campaign. They’ve come a long way since then.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
England: LLLWL
Netherlands: LLWLL

Pitch and conditions

There has been a distinct English feel to the weather in Nagpur in recent days with cloud cover and drizzle in the air. Similar is forecast for the match which will suit both sides who are more used to cooler conditions. The nets have been a little spicy, but don’t expect the surface to offer the same life.

Watch out for…

The big talking point is Kevin Pietersen’s promotion to the top of the England order. It’s not a role he has attempted too often in the past, although his 131 from 122 balls against India A in Bangalore seven years ago provides some evidence of what he might be able to achieve. Besides, so far in the tournament, No. 1 has been the place to bat, with Sehwag, Tamim, Dilshan and Watson all cashing in on their opportunities. KP’s never better than when he has a point to prove.Ryan ten Doeschate is the Netherlands’ outstanding performer. A big-hitting and technically correct batsman, and a tricksy seamer with a good change-up in pace and a range of subtle variations, he has honed his skills as a stalwart at Essex, and is the one Dutch player who would press for a place in the England middle-order. A lot will rest on his shoulders if they are to come close to matching their shock result two years ago.

Team news

Graeme Swann is back with England’s squad after an eventful month which began with a back injury in Australia, and culminated in the birth of his first son, Wilfred, only days after his successful quashing of a drink-driving charge at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court. Assuming he has regained his fitness and focus after all that, he’ll be straight back into the side, and may be joined by the late squad addition Ravi Bopara, whose powerful strokeplay could be vital in the absence of Eoin Morgan.England (probable) 1 Kevin Pietersen, 2 Andrew Strauss (capt), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Ravi Bopara, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson.The Dutch captain Peter Borren is expected to play but will not bowl after suffering an abdominal strain. There could be a new look at the top of the order with the young wicketkeeper, Wesley Barresi, touted as a possible opening partner for the Worcestershire starlet, Alexei Kervezee. “I think [Barresi] can handle this level of cricket: not only handle it, but also do very, very well,” said Borren.Netherlands (possible) 1 Alexei Kervezee, 2 Wesley Barresi (wk), 3 Eric Szwarczynski, 4 Tom Cooper, 5 Ryan ten Doeschate, 6 Peter Borren (capt), 7 Bas Zuiderent, 8 Tom de Grooth, 9 Mudassar Bukhari, 10 Adeel Raja, 11 Bradley Kruger..

Stats and trivia

• The first meeting between these two teams came in Peshawar exactly 15 years ago, when Graeme Hick’s century proved the difference between two improbably well-matched teams. Bas Zuiderent was playing in his and his country’s second full ODI, and made 54 as an 18-year-old.
• The second, and most recent, 50-over meeting occurred in East London in the 2003 World Cup, and was a much more one-sided affair. James Anderson, blazing a trail in his maiden international season, claimed 4 for 25 as the Dutch crashed to 142 all out.
• Paul Collingwood has played two matches in his career against the Dutch … and lost them both. The most recent was of course the Lord’s Twenty20, but he first tasted defeat while playing for Durham at Amstelveen in the third round of the NatWest Trophy in 1999. He made 7 from 39 balls in a five-wicket defeat.
  

  Quotes

  “[Losing intensity] was an accusation that could have been levelled during the one-day series in Australia. But not the World Cup. We’re up for it. There’s a good vibe and buzz about everything out here at the moment.”

  “Certainly half the squad were there on that evening and they are fully aware of what is possible on any given day. I know it was a shorter version but they are going to take quite a bit of confidence out of that victory into this.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShahid Afridi now has 14 wickets after leading his team to victory with 5 for 23•AFP

Where Ireland went, Canada could not follow as their dreams of a World Cup fairytale were blown away by Shahid Afridi. For three-quarters of the game Canada had hustled Pakistan into a corner, only for Afridi to lash out with five wickets to seal Pakistan’s qualification to the quarter finals.While Afridi’s speculative batting may long since have gone bust, his bowling has grown into a model of menacing consistency which has placed him well in front as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 14 scalps from three games.Chasing a modest 184 after a lethargic Pakistan batting effort, Canada had scrapped hard to reach 104 for 3 with 17 overs remaining. Even in conditions that had been refreshingly inviting for bowlers, it was an equation within Canada’s reach, but Pakistan’s jack-in-the-box captain sprung to life to wipe out the lower and middle order.It was Saeed Ajmal, back in the side in place of Abdur Rehman, who started the collapse when he dismissed the obdurate Zubin Surkari lbw. The appeal was initially denied by umpire Daryl Harper, but the much-maligned DRS proved the bowler right. It was one of a number of decisions that Harper had to reverse as, in a single innings, the merits of umpire technology were given a perfect advertisement.Surkari’s dismissal brought the destructive Rizwan Cheema to the crease and with the target still in sight it seemed scripted that Cheema would bash his adopted country to glory against the land of his birth, but after starting with a bang over midwicket he ended with a whimper – missing an Afridi googly to lose his off bail.

Smart stats

• Shahid Afridi has become the first bowler to take three four-wicket hauls in a single World Cup. He is also the fourth bowler to take two five-fors in one World Cup.

• The two best bowling performances by a Pakistan player in World Cups belong to Afridi, and they’ve come within ten days of each other.

• Afridi is the leading wicket-taker in this World Cup with 14, and needs only four more to equal the record for most wickets by a Pakistan bowler in a World Cup: Wasim Akram took 18 in 1992.

• It is only the ninth instance of a bowler taking at least four wickets in three consecutive ODI innings. Waqar Younis achieved this feat on three separate occasions.

• Canada’s 15-over scores in their three matches have been the three lowest among all teams in this tournament – they scored 35 for 3 against Zimbabwe, 36 for 3 against Sri Lanka, and 40 for 2 today against Pakistan.

Afridi’s next over all but sealed the match with a slider rushing through Jimmy Hansra’s defences. Hansra had played with the sort of calculated daring that underpinned Ireland’s success in Bangalore but could not last long enough. Afridi was aloft in celebration a ball later when he bowled Harvir Baidwan to set up a hat-trick delivery. Though he didn’t get it, he sealed his five-wicket haul when Wahab Riaz held a Tyson Gordon skier.As if to emphasise his hold on the occasion Afridi even managed to conjure another scalp after finishing his bowling stint, hitting direct from mid-on to catch the wheezing Balaji Rao short. It meant Pakistan finished a game with all the zest that was missing from a forgettable batting display.Were it not for a stodgy 73-run stand between Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal, Pakistan may well have joined England on the receiving end of a World Cup shock. Before they came together Pakistan were rocking at 67 for 4 and lost five wickets for 44 after their stand was broken. Misbah was as calm as ever and nursed his more volatile partner through an organised, pragmatic and thoroughly un-Pakistani partnership.Either side of that pair it was a overconfident display as the batsmen lacked the intensity to buckle down and keep the scoreboard moving in the face of an energetic Canada effort. Using the heavy atmosphere and sporting pitch, all the Canadian bowlers caused trouble but it was the contrasting aggression of seamer Baidwan and rotund legspinner Rao who starred, constantly prodding and probing the Pakistan batsmen who were unable to raise their games.It left Canada dreaming at the half-way stage, but Afridi intervened when his team needed him most.

Match Timeline