One benefit of playing against Nepal A was that Canada was able to experiment with their lineup. After opening with Navneet Dhaliwal in previous matches, head coach Pubudu Dassanayake decided to move Dhaliwal to the middle-order and have wicket-keeper Srimantha Wijeyeratne open the batting.
Shreyas Movva's excellent form meant that he remained in the side exclusively as a batsman, providing additional batting experience and depth with Bin Zafar batting at No 8 and Dillon Heyliger also useful at No 9.
Wijeyeratne seems to have gained a lot of confidence from his spirited 41 against Nepal A. Against a probing new ball effort from Junaid Siddique and Sanchit Sharma, Wijeyeratne was cautious and ensured he did not lose his wicket, especially with Aaron Johnson and Pargat Singh falling early.
The 34-year-old scored 59 off 83, including six boundaries and a beautiful cover drive in the eighth over off Sharma. He reached his half-century with a square cut off Siddique and celebrated by blowing a kiss to his family in attendance in Dubai.
Wijeyeratne's dismissal was unfortunate, as he was caught out by a ball shaping down the legside that he tried to flick, possibly only tickling the pad on the way to the keeper. Zahoor Khan and Tanish Suri appealed immediately, and the umpire raised his finger. Wijeyeratne was shocked and briefly raised his hands in disbelief, but ultimately accepted the decision as there was no TV umpire available.
When Wijeyeratne left, Canada was in a strong position, needing 85 runs off 130 balls with six wickets remaining.