Pakistan slump to below par 184 against Canada

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COLOMBO: Pakistan, one of the tournament favourites, slumped to a well below-par 184 off 43 overs against the unfancied Canada in their World Cup Group A match on Thursday.

Winning the toss and taking first use of the pitch, Pakistan could not get their batting rhythm going and lost wickets at regular intervals.

They slumped to 67-4 before Misbah-ul-Haq (37) and top scorer Umar Akmal (48) posted the best partnership of the innings with 73 for the fifth wicket.

Once the stand was broken at 140, the rest of the Pakistan batting collapsed with the last five wickets tumbling for 19 runs unable to cope with the medium-pace and spin combination of Canada who had heavily lost their first two matches to Sri Lanka and Zimbawe.

Canada lost their opening bowler Khurram Chohan who failed to complete his fourth over but he was not missed as the rest of the bowlers bowled a tight line and length.

Medium-pacer Harvir Baidwan was the pick of the attack with three for 35 while Rizwan Cheema, Balaji Rao and Jimmy Hansra shared six wickets among them.

Canada, whose only World Cup victory was over Bangladesh in 2003, will take on the relatively modest target against a Pakistan attack missing the resting Shoaib Akhtar.