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KING CITY, Ont. – Harsh Thaker scored 93 runs and captain Nicholas Kirton added 57 to help Canada defeat Oman by 59 runs Friday in ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 play.

It marked a second straight half-century for Kirton, who scored 73 runs not out in Monday’s decisive 103-run win over Nepal in the opening match of the triangular series.

The Canadians finished at 276 for eight in their 50 overs Friday. In response, Oman was 217 all out with four overs remaining in a determined effort after battling back from 105 for seven.

The 19th-ranked Canadians face No. 16 Nepal on Sunday and No. 18 Oman next Thursday. Oman and Nepal meet Tuesday, All the games are at the Maple Leaf Cricket Ground.

Oman edged Nepal by one wicket Wednesday, scoring the winning runs on the penultimate ball.

The eight World League 2 teams each play 36 one-day internationals spread across nine triangular series through December 2026. The top four sides will go through to a World Cup qualifier that will decide the last four berths in the expanded 14-team Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

The bottom four teams still have a chance to get to the World Cup qualifier, via another tournament from which the top two teams move on.

Friday’s win moved Canada (6-4) into a tie on points with the 14th-ranked Dutch (6-2) atop the World League 2 table. Oman (2-3 with one no-result) is fifth.

Oman won the toss and elected to field. And the decision paid immediate dividends when Aaron Johnson was caught on the first ball and fellow opener Navneet Dhaliwal was removed lbw on two with Canada at 14 for two in the eight over.

Canada rallied after that with No. 3 batsman Pargat Singh scoring 42 runs, with Thaker and Kirton next up.

Thaker, who was dropped on 30, notched his half-century with a six that just missed a sponsor’s car on display just outside the boundary. Thaker hit four fours and four sixes in his 103-ball knock while Kirton slammed four sixes and two fours off 50 balls.

Saad Bin Zafar and Dilon Heyliger provided a sting in the Canadian batting tail with 22 and 37 runs respectively.

The Oman bats faltered early, losing openers Kashyap Prajapati and Jatinder Singh for zero and five runs, respectively. Oman found itself at 17 for four before Zeeshan Maqsood (27) andAyaan Khan (30) steadied the ship.

With Oman down to its last two wickets, Canada turned to Johnson as its seventh bowler of the afternoon. Known as an opening batsman, Johnson conceded seven runs in his first-ever international over as a bowler and just one in the second.

Fayyaz Butt (44) and Shakeel Ahmed (21 not out) frustrated Canada with a stubborn ninth-wicket partnership.

With five overs and two wickets left, Oman needed 62 runs to win. Dilon Heyliger dismissed Butt with Oman at 217 for nine. Kaleemullah, who goes by one name, was caught by Kirton at the boundary two balls late.

Heyliger followed his career-best five-wicket haul with another four wickets Friday, at the expense of 42 runs in eight overs.

Former Canada coach Pubudu Dassanayake is serving an assistant to Oman coach Duleep Mendis at the tournament.

Canada won all four matches in its opening tri-series in February-March, sweeping No. 11 Scotland and the 20th-ranked host Emirates. But the Canadians lost four in a row to the 18th-ranked U.S. and host Netherlands in August.

Canada which debuted in the T20 World Cup this summer in the U.S. and West Indies, is looking to get back to the showcase 50-over Cricket World Cup for the first time since 2011 after failing to qualify for the last three editions. The Canadian men also played in the 1979, 2003 and 2007 tournaments, exiting after the group stage in all four tournament appearances.

The Canadian men regained their one-day international status for the first time in almost a decade by finishing in the top four of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff in April 2023 in Bermuda.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024

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PENTICTON, B.C. – Arturs Silovs was the Vancouver Canucks breakout star during last season’s playoffs — and not only for his fashion sense.

Now, with Vancouver’s leading goalie Thatcher Demko sidelined by a rare muscle injury, Silovs appears poised to take over the crease once again.

The 23-year-old Latvian remains unfazed by the opportunity.

“Just have to take it one day at a time. Take it as a challenge and be prepared,” he said at the Canucks training camp in Penticton, B.C.

Silovs’ cool, calm demeanour drew ample attention last spring — as did the pink paisley dress shirt Canucks forward J.T. Miller borrowed from Silovs’ locker and sported during a morning skate.

Silovs spent much of the regular season with Vancouver’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, before joining the NHL club for its playoff run.

Over a matter of weeks, he went from being the third-string netminder to posting his first NHL shutout in a series-clinching victory over Nashville that vaulted the Canucks into the second round of the playoffs. He then stayed in net as the team ground its way through a seven-game series against the Edmonton Oilers.

Silovs went 5-5-0 across the post-season with a .898 save percentage, a 2.91 goals-against average and a shutout.

After time to reflect during the off-season, the six-foot-four, 203-pound goalie said the run held a lot of lessons.

“I think it showed me how best hockey is played, and in the toughest situations,” he said. “There’s so much pressure all around, right? And everyone wants to win. Everyone’s scrambling, trying to do their best.

“So I think that gave me a lot of confidence too, just being in the game, having good games, and having confidence and winning. And now I think it’s easier to get in with that experience under your belt.”

Silovs spent his summer working through a knee injury that kept him out of Latvia’s lineup during an Olympic qualifier.

Making the decision to sit out wasn’t easy for Silovs, but he wanted to prioritize his future and knew he wasn’t at the level he expected to be at when representing his country.

“I want to be at 100 per cent, not 80 per cent, right?” he said.

Latvia went unbeaten in the tournament and will compete at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

“I was pretty confident for our core for the national team,” Silovs said. “And I was confident enough that we were going to manage it and win it.”

With Demko sidelined indefinitely, it’s expected Silovs will be Vancouver’s starter through the pre-season, beginning Tuesday when the Canucks host the Seattle Kraken. He could also be in net when the regular-season campaign begins with a visit from the Calgary Flames on Oct. 9.

Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet isn’t nervous about having the up-and-coming goalie manning the crease.

“The way this team defends, the way we play the puck, I’m comfortable,” he said. “We have a certain way we want to play, and hopefully take pressure off a goalie, whether it’s Demmer or Silovs or whoever. I think that’s important.”

Both structure and a solid netminder were key for Vancouver through the playoffs last year, said defenceman Quinn Hughes.

“It wasn’t like we were playing so sound and stable that Arty didn’t have to make any saves,” he said. “I mean, he made some really good saves, and he’s a great, great goalie, and we’re lucky to have him in the organization with Demmer down. Obviously our structure helps us, but I don’t think that can take away what a what a good goalie Arty is.”

Even with defensive structure and solid goaltending, the Canucks ultimately fell to the Oilers in Game 7 of the second-round series.

It’s a result that still irks the squad as a new season begins, Silovs said.

“I think it just gives you hunger, right? It wasn’t enough. We were short. And I think, for me, I want to get better,” he said. “I think that’s great. We need that hunger to be successful.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jonathan Aranda homered, six Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a five-hitter, and the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 on Friday night.

Aranda went deep against José Berríos (14-10) with one out in the sixth inning.

The loss ended Berríos’ seven start winning streak, during which he had a 1.51 ERA. The right-hander allowed one run, six hits, one walk and had six strikeouts in six innings.

After Rays starter Tyler Alexander gave up two hits over 4 1/3 innings, Kevin Kelly (4-2) extended his scoreless streak to 22 innings after going 1 2/3 innings. Manuel Rodríguez worked out of a second-and-third jam in the seventh. Edwin Uceta and Colin Poche combined to get through the eighth before Hunter Bigge worked the ninth to get his first save.

The Rays limited Boston to one hit in a 2-0 victory on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay had a runner reach third in each of the first three innings against Berríos but went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games with a sixth-inning single.

Ernie Clement, filling in for injured Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette, made a couple of strong defensive plays. He made a lunging play on Jonny DeLuca’s two-out grounder during the third and started a nifty inning-ending double play in the fifth.

Clement walked leading off the eighth and stole second, but was tagged out trying to advance on Kirk’s grounder to third.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: Bichette (broken right middle finger) will see a hand specialist on Tuesday. … RHP Kevin Gausman, who left his start after throwing five no-hit innings Thursday against Texas with back tightness, is feeling better and could make his next scheduled start. … INF Will Wagner had his left knee scoped on Friday. … OF Daulton Varsho will have right rotator cuff surgery on Monday and there is a chance he won’t be ready for spring training next year.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays RHP Yariel Rodríguez (1-6, 4.29 ERA) and Rays RHP Taj Bradley (6-11, 4.39 ERA) are Saturday’s scheduled starters.

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AP MLB:

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