Zimbabwe sink outclassed Canadianss for easy win

NAGPUR, India, (Reuters) - An assured 98 from Tatenda Taibu and a devastating opening spell from left-arm spinner Ray Price spurred Zimbabwe to a crushing 175-run victory over Canada in their World Cup Group A match on Monday.

After setting Canada a daunting 299 for victory, Zimbabwe made sure they maintained their perfect record against the North Americans by skittling them for 123. Price removed John Davison (0), Nitish Kumar (1) and Ashish Bagai (0) to leave the Canadians reeling on seven for three and they never recovered from the setback.

Bagai’s team had crawled to 14 runs after the first 10 overs and facing a required run-rate of 7.12 at that stage, the result was all but a foregone conclusion.

Ruvindu Gunasekera scored a painstakingly slow 24 off 64 balls and when Greg Lamb dislodged his bails with a rather tame delivery, the Zimbabwean was rewarded with a sweaty cheek-to-cheek rub from one of his delighted team mates.

“With the ball, things went really well. I wouldn’t mind taking that wicket around with me, it’s fun to bowl on,” grinned Price, who was handed the new ball in a move that is proving to be popular on the slow-turning sub-continent pitches.