Canada defeats Scotland for second win in ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 play | CBC Sports

Pargat Singh hit 87 not out to lead Canada to a commanding seven-wicket victory over Scotland in ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 play Friday in Dubai City, UAE.

The Canadian men won their opening match Wednesday, defeating the United Arab Emirates by three wickets.

On Friday, Canada won the toss and elected to field, restricting the Scots to 215 for eight in their allotted 50 overs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Nicholas Kirton and Dillon Heyliger led the Canadian bowling attack with two wickets each while captain Saad Bin Zafar, Ammar Khalid and Kaleem Sana took one apiece.

Singh, named man of the match, hit 10 fours and one six in his 99-ball innings. Srimantha Wijeyeratne scored 56 for his second half-century in as many matches and fellow opener Aaron Johnson added 43 as Canada reached 220 for three in 40.3 overs.

Canada faces the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.

The World Cup League 2 features eight teams: Canada, Namibia, Nepal, the Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, United Arab Emirates and the U.S. After 144 matches from 24-tri-series, the top four sides will move within one step of qualifying for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

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The four teams that move on will join others in the World Cup Qualifier which will send four teams on to join 10 direct qualifiers in the World Cup. Co-hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe and the other top-eight ranked teams will complete the 14-team World Cup lineup.

Canada regained its one-day international status for the first time in almost a decade by finishing in the top four at last April’s ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff in Namibia.

The Canadian men are also headed to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, for the first time, in June in the West Indies and U.S.