GT20 Canada: Montreal Tigers snatch an exciting win on a day of hat tricks to qualify for final

It was cricket at its best. Hundreds of knowledgeable spectators who had assembled at TD Arena on Saturday could not have asked for more.

The second qualifier or the semi-final between Vancouver Knights and Montreal Tigers was a game not many would be able to forget fast.

The day marked a series of hat tricks. And the beneficiary of hat tricks was the ultimate winner, the Montreal Tiger. First, it was its pace bowler Abbas Afridi who claimed three wickets in three balls in the 13th over. And then it was Rutherford who hit three towering sixes off the first three balls of the last over to give the Tigers an exciting win.

Earlier, Abbas Afridi got the wickets of Corbin Bosch, Van de Russi and Zardan on the last three balls. His feat was all the more credible as Bosch had hit him for a massive six on the second ball and a boundary with a blistering drive on the third before being caught at mid-off for a well-made 36. Fourth, fifth and sixth balls saw Abbas Afridi completing the first hat trick of the tournament.

Montreal Tigers’ agony did not end with his hat trick. Ayaan had Rizwan with the first ball of the 14th over to make it a rare four wickets in four balls feat.

Incidentally, Abbas Afridi also became the first bowler to take five wickets in an innings. His final figures were 5 for 29.

Montreal Tigers which were once placed in a comfortable position at 90 for one slumped to 91 for 5 before some rear guard action by the ultimate match winner Rutherford and Ayaan Khan started.
In between Muhammad Waseem 13, Dipindra Airee 25 and Andre Russel 17  lent significant support to the Tigers in building their total.

As Rutherford was running out of partners and Junaid Siddique was giving lethal blows with his controlled pace bowling ( 4 for 22), the Tigers were left with the difficult task of scoring 15 runs in the last over for a place in the final.  Rutherford took up the challenge and slammed the first three balls from last bowler Pathan over and above the fence not only to complete a hat trick of sixes but also to give Montreal Tigers a splendid one-wicket win and a place in Sunday’s final.

Montreal Tigers will play Surrey Jaguars today at 12 noon in the championship match.

As of today, Vancouver Knights and Brampton Wolves take third and fourth positions while Toronto Nationals finish fifth and Mississauga Panthers end at the bottom.

Prabhjot Singh