Canada’s leading left-arm seamer Kaleem Sana stole the show with a brilliant hat-trick to help the Montreal Tigers record a stunning seven-wicket win against Toronto Nationals and secure the top spot on the leaderboard after Shakib Al Hasan led the Bangla Tigers Mississauga to a two-wicket victory against Surrey Jaguars in another thrilling contest of the fourth edition of the Global T20 Canada on Monday.
Returning from a quad injury, Sana (4/13) showed no signs of discomfort as he combined with his Afghan new-ball partner Azmatullah Omarzai (3/22) to turn the tide in favour of the Tigers right inside the power-play and leave the Nationals tottering at 30/7 before eventually bowling them out for a meagre 52.
For the Nationals, Jatinderpal Matharu (12) was the only batter to reach double digits on what turned out to be a gloomy outing for the side after being put in to bat by Tigers’ stand-in skipper Tim Seifert under slightly overcast conditions at the TD Stadium in Brampton.
In reply, the Tigers had to cope with a couple of early blows before Seifert (15 not out) took them over the line with 51 balls to spare. The win helped the Tigers avoid the mid-table logjam, as they comfortably sit atop the standings with 9 points from six outings, with one league stage match left. On the other hand, the Nationals completed their league matches with three wins and as many losses, to sit at fourth with seven points.
Campher, Shakib inspire Bangla Tigers Mississauga to third spot
Earlier, Bangla Tigers Mississauga defeated Surrey Jaguars by two wickets to climb a rung to the third spot in the standings behind Brampton Wolves. Mississauga have amassed eight points from six matches with four wins and two defeats.
Surrey continued to be second from bottom, having won just one of their six games.
In a match reduced to 18 overs a side due to rain, Bangla Tigers Mississauga won the toss and opted to bowl first. South African Curtis Campher (4/17) spearheaded the Mississauga attack with some incisive pace bowling as Surrey were restricted to 108/8 in their 18 overs. In reply, the Bangla Tigers survived some excellent bowling by the Jaguars to overhaul the target with three balls to spare.
Jaguars ran into trouble right at the start, losing their top order before the end of the power-play with just 28 runs on the board. Their batters struggled to build partnerships as the Tigers continued to pick up wickets at regular intervals.
However, the Surrey bowlers forced Mississauga to make heavy weather of what seemed to be an easy target. Kiwi pacer Ben Lister was the pick of the Surrey bowlers with figures of 3/12 in his four overs. Veteran West Indies star Sunil Narine and Logan van Beek claimed two wickets each. Their efforts ensured that none of the Mississauga batters managed to settle down as wickets continued to fall in quick succession.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan top scored with 36 off 30 balls to bring the Tigers’ chase back on track before being caught behind off van Beek. That set up an exciting last over finish as Pargat Singh hit Marcus Stoinis for a boundary through third man to bring up the victory in some style.
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