GT 20 Canada: Montreal Tigers devour Brampton Wolves

Montreal Tigers devoured pre-tournament favourites and local Brampton Wolves by nine wickets and more than 5 overs to spare in the second qualifier game of GT 20 Canada at TD Arena on Friday.

Earlier  Surrey Jaguars booked its berth in the final with a convincing  38-run win over Vancouver Knights.
Tomorrow Vancouver Knights will face Montreal Tigers to decide who challenges Surrey Jaguars in the title match.

Rocked by runouts – four – Brampton Wolves had run into rough weather as Carlos Brathwaite (2 for 20) and Ayaan Khan (2 for 16) had the Wolves batsmen under check.

With runs coming with difficulty, Brampton Wolves struggled to put up 100 on the board, thanks to some useful contributions by opener Aaron Johnson 31, Grandhomme 20, and Logan Beek 15. They ended at 104 with skipper Tim Southee running himself out on the last ball.

Four of their batsmen – Grandhomme, Rizwan Cheema, Chris Green and skipper Tim Southee – were run out.

A captain’s knock by Chris Lynn 63 not out of 47 balls paved the way for a comfortable run chase by the Tigers. They lost only one wicket of Waseem who was stumped off Ahmadzai when the score read 73 for one in 10 overs. Chris Lynn completed his fifty from 38 balls with a huge six off Ahmadzai and his hit to maximum landed over the Media Box.

Skipper Tim Southee and  Logan Beek did not get the support from the wicket that Carlos Brathwaite got. Tigers played to the plan by opting to field first and then knocking off the required runs by keeping the flow of runs with a beautiful blend of caution and aggression.

With Brampton Wolves out of contention now, it will be interesting to watch who challenges Surrey Jaguars in Sunday’s final. Tomorrow the second playoff game will start at noon.

Prabhjot Singh