Star-studded Mississauga Panthers do not know what has hit them. They lost their fourth successive game to remain at the bottom of the six-team GT20 Canada championship.
They lost to Toronto Nationals by six wickets with 6.4 overs left to be bowled.
With players like Chris Gayle, Shoaib Malik, Neeshan, Nicholas Kirton, and Azam Khan in their ranks, batting first they finished at one of the lowest totals at the end of the stipulated 20 overs. With Shoaib Malik contributing 37 from the same number of balls they finished at 115 for nine. Shoaib had two boundaries in his knock.
Another batter to do well was Tom Cooper who made 26 from 14 balls as his innings was studded with two sixes and a boundary. Sad Bin Zafar was the most successful bowler for the Toronto team. He took three wickets conceding 31 runs.
When Toronto Nationals came to bat, they knocked off the required runs in 13.2 overs with Colin Munro playing the lead role. He hit a record number of sixes – six – highest by any player in any single game so far, and five boundaries in 31 balls stay at the wicket. Hamza Tariq made 25 with a towering six and two boundaries while opener Nicolas Kirton chipped in with 12. Nikhil Dutta was the most successful Panthers bowler as he finished with two for 36 while Zahoor Khan and Parveen Kunar shared the remaining two wickets.
Toronto Nationals now have four points from four games while Mississauga is still without a point after the fourth round of matches. Thursday is a rest day.
Prabhjot Singh