T20 Final: Pakistan 132 for 7 (20 overs) lost to Sri Lanka 133 for 5 (20 overs) by 5 wickets
3rd/4th place: Zimbabwe 184 for 5 (20 overs) beat Canada 75 (19.2 overs) by 109 runs

Sri Lanka bowled well to restrict Pakistan to 132 for 7 wickets, setoff like a roaring train with the bat, before the Pakistani bowlers cut the scoring rate in mid-inngs, then cashed in when Shoaib Akhtar came back into the attack for one fateful over and stuck to sensible cricket to secure the Canadian Thanksgiving Al Barakah T20 Series championship.

The Sri Lankan headlines came from Sanath Jayaruiya, who hit 40 in 34 balls, and young spinner Ajantha Mendis, who took 3 wickets for 23 runs. But several other useful contributions, in the context of 20 over matches, were made by the rest of the side. The bowling was quite tidy. Weeraratne and Dilshan ensured the last 18 runs were scrimped and scraped in the dying overs.

On an unseasonably warm weekend, and an almost uncharacteristically dry weekend by this summer’s standards, fans from both countries turned out to support this event. Sri Lankan, Pakistani and some Canadian flags were waved in the stands. There were even a few Zimbabwe supporters on hand. The Zimbabweans were able to celebrate a fine innings from opener Hamilton Masakadza of 79 runs from 52 balls (8 fours & 3 sixes). This effort lifted his side to a total of 184 for 5 wickets and a 109 run win over Canada .

Salman Butt lead the Pakistani batting with 44 runs off 41 balls and Misbah-ul-Haq’s 23 not out anchored the late overs. Captain Shoaib Malik with 2 wickets for 17 runs in 4 overs and Shahid Afridi taking 1 wicket for 15 in 4 overs applied the brakes in mid-innings. However, Malik will face criticism for bringing back Akhtar in the dying overs. The Rawalpindi Express was derailed on this occasion, and had not bowled very well in his opening two overs. Conceding 40 runs in 3 overs, Akhtar’s bowling accounted for a large share of the 133 runs Sri Lanka needed for victory.

In the morning match for third place, Canada made an early breakthrough, but Hamilton Masakadza and Chibhabha (40 runs) turned the tide with a second wicket stand of 89 runs in ten overs. Several fielding lapses and poor decisions on trying for direct-hit run-outs, rather than return the ball to wicketkeeper or bowler helped the Zimbabwe cause. But a key part of the answer is in the state of the grounds commonly used in leading senior divisions in Canadian club cricket.

Zimbabwe ’s innings closed with a flourish from Chigumbura blasting 25 runs in 8 balls. Canada ’s Umar Bhatti conceded 16 runs in the 20th over, after conceding just 10 runs in his first three overs. Leg-spinner Balaji Rao made the ball turn a lot, and might have deserved better than 2 wickets for 33 runs in 4 overs.

Ray Price, a slow-left arm bowler, was one of Zimbabwe ’s opening bowlers. He helped keep the pressure on the Canadian batsmen, and aided by the quick work of wicketkeeper Taibu removed dangerman Rizwan Cheema. Abdool Samad struck a couple of defiant blows for six in making 29 runs, left-hander Bhatti played a couple of nice cuts for four and made 11 runs. Next best was number eleven bat, Eion Katchay showed how by steering the ball around the score can tick over. He made 8 not out from 9 balls.

In September 2005, Balaji Rao outdid Cheema in opening the batting for Canada A in a match against the MCC. How to turn good club players into solid international performers, some of whom would specialize as batsmen or bowlers, rather than all be all-rounders are key challenges for Canada and other leading ICC Associate countries.