The second-weekend double-header at the fourth edition of the Global T20 Canada witnessed two captivating encounters with the Brampton Wolves recording a convincing victory before a spirited fightback from Toronto Nationals helped them resurrect their campaign in the league with a timely win on Saturday.
There was no shortage of the thrill and excitement for the crowd that gathered at the TD Cricket Arena in Brampton, with the Brampton Wolves flooring the Bangla Tigers Mississauga by 8 wickets in the first game before the Toronto Nationals held their nerves to pull off a heist with a stunning 19-run triumph over the Vancouver Knights.
Moments after the Knights skipper Usman Khawaja expressed his team’s desperation to end their winless streak while electing to field at the toss, Vancouver’s Pakistani import Mohammed Amir gave them the early momentum with three key wickets before Canada’s rising stars Rishi Joshi and Harsh Thaker returned with a couple of scalps to restrict the Nationals to 127/9. Roston Chase was the pick of the Nationals’ batters, contributing with a 27-ball 23.
In reply, Scottish national team captain Richie Berrington came up with a blistering 52 off 44 balls to take charge of the Knights’ chase before the Toronto Nationals staged a stunning comeback by removing the Knights’ last seven wickets for a mere 20 runs to derail their innings, and eventually bundle them out for a meagre 108. Romario Shepherd (3/17), and Mohammed Nawaz (2/18) were the pick of the Nationals’ bowlers.
That outcome helped the Nationals vault to second place with seven points in their kitty from three wins in six games while the Knights are out of the race to the top four after failing to record a single win from as many outings.
Warner leads Wolves to spectacular 8-wicket win
Earlier, Brampton Wolves rode on a powerful bowling performance, and a great fightback from the skipper David Warner (44 not out) to impose a crushing eight-wicket defeat on Bangla Tigers Mississauga.
Opting to bowl, Brampton skipper David Warner saw his decision pay rich dividends as Bangla Tigers were bundled out for a mere 79 in 13 overs. The Wolves overhauled the meagre target with a whopping 52 balls left.
Brampton find themselves in the third spot in the standings with six points from five matches. They have three wins and two losses to their name. On the other hand, the Bangla Tigers are at fourth. They are also on six points from three wins and two defeats, but trail the Wolves on net run rate.
Jack Jarvis delivered the first blow to the Bangla Tigers when an inswinger nipped in sharply to beat opener Hazratullah Zazai and hit the top of offstump. The next setback for Bangla Tigers came off the very first ball of the second over when Rahmanullah Gurbaz played one from Andrew Tye off his pads straight into the hands of Jarvis. Andrew Tye delivered an inswinging yorker with the last ball of the over to trap Shakib Al Hasan leg before and leave Bangla Tigers tottering at 5/3. It was all downhill for Bangla Tigers from there as none of their batters were able to assert themselves at the crease.
Pacers Andrew Tye and Thomas Draca bagged three wickets each for the Wolves.
In response, Brampton Wolves’ chase was spearheaded by skipper David Warner’s belligerent 33-ball undefeated 44, laced with six fours and a six. Warner was involved in two crucial partnerships — first for 41 runs with Jarvis (11) and then combined with fellow Australian Beau Webster (23 not out) to put the Wolves on the road to victory.
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