TORONTO, July 4: Netherlands romped to 117-run victory over Canada in the first of two One-day Internationals at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club on Tuesday, but the manner of their victory was far more emphatic than the final margin suggests.

They underlined what the World Cup had shown, namely that the gap between the four leading Associates – of which they are one – and Canada remains wide.

Whereas the four-day Intercontinental Cup match had gone down to the wire – and Canada will still wonder quite how they lost it – there was only ever one winner at Toronto on Tuesday.

Netherlands won the toss, batted, and all their top five contributed with South African-born Eric Szwarczynski cracking 51 and then the middle of the innings was given a real fillip by Peter Borren who smashed 96 off 69 balls. It was his first ODI fifty and included four sixes and nine fours.

Canada were 21 for three in the ninth over and from there on in the innings fell apart. At 73 for eight a complete humiliation seemed likely but Sunil Dhaniram hit ten fours in his 55 and the last pair of Steven Welsh and Henry Osinde chipped in with a stand of 45. By then, all that was at stake was pride.

The second game was scheduled for Wednesday.

Scoreboard

NETHERLANDS:

A.N. Kervezee c Qaiser b Osinde 15

D.J. Reekers c Qaiser b Osinde 44

E.S. Szwarczynski c A.A. Mulla b Dhaniram 51

T.N. de Grooth b Dhaniram 21

P.W. Borren st A.A. Mulla b Sandher 96

W.F. Stelling run out 7

A.F. Buurman b Sandher 34

Mudassar Bukhari not out 6

E. Schiferli not out 3

EXTRAS (LB-8, W-4) 12

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 289

FALL OF WKTS: 1-62, 2-63, 3-134, 4-141, 5-158, 6-279, 7-286.

DID NOT BAT: J. Smits, M.B.S. Jonkman.

BOWLING: Welsh 10-0-68-0 (1w); Osinde 10-2-42-2 (2w); M. Mulla 10-2-64-0 (1w); Dhaniram 10-0-39-2; Sandher 9-0-60-2; Bastiampillai 1-0-8-0.

CANADA:

G.E.F. Barnett b Schiferli 6

Shahzad Khan c Reekers b Stelling 4

A. Bagai b Schiferli 1

Qaiser Ali c Stelling b Mudassar 12

A.A. Mulla run out 7

T.C. Bastiampillai b Mudassar 7

S. Dhaniram b Stelling 55

M. Mulla b Jonkman 1

K.T. Sandher c Smits b Schiferli 1

S.R. Welsh c and b Mudassar 32

H. Osinde not out 21

EXTRAS (LB-7, W-6, NB-12) 25

TOTAL (all out, 43 overs) 172

FALL OF WKTS: 1-16, 2-16, 3-21, 4-36, 5-45, 6-46, 7-63, 8-73, 9-127.

BOWLING: Schiferli 8-0-18-3 (4nb); Stelling 10-1-47-2 (8nb, 2w); Mudassar Bukhari 8-1-24-3 (2w); Jonkman 8-2-28-1 (2w); Borren 8-0-40-0; Kervezee 1-0-8-0.

RESULT: Netherlands won by 117 runs.

UMPIRES: R. Dill (Bermuda) and D.B. Hair (Australia).

MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Peter Borren.—Agencies