New Delhi, February 13 Senior pacer Junaid Siddique took five wickets to lead a disciplined bowling effort from the United Arab Emirates as they restricted Canada to a below-par 150 for 7 in their T20 World Cup match here on Friday.
Opting to bat, Canada were jolted early as pacers Siddique (5/35) and Muhammad Jawadullah ripped through the top order inside the first four overs.
Siddique set the tone with a superb opening spell, taking two wickets before claiming three more at the death.
He started by pitching one up around off to lure opener Dilprit Bajwa into an aerial stroke, only for the captain to mistime it and offer a simple catch.
He then shifted to a fifth-stump line, angling the ball away as opener Yuvraj Samra attempted a pull, gifting a regulation catch to Alishan Sharafu at mid-on.
Jawadullah joined the party, striking with his first delivery, dismissing the dangerous Nicholas Kirton, who edged behind, leaving Canada reeling with their top three back in the dugout inside six overs.
Harsh Thaker steadied the innings with a 41-ball-50. He briefly wrested back momentum with a four and a six, guiding Canada's recovery alongside Navneet Dhaliwal (34).
He stitched together two vital partnerships – a 58-run stand with Dhaliwal (34) and a 33-run association with Shreyas Movva (21).
However, Siddique returned in the 18th over to remove Thaker.
In his next over he got rid of Movva with a slower bouncer, before getting rid of Saad Bin Zafar, halting Canada's late push.
