GT20 Canada: Vancouver Knights edge out Toronto Nationals for a place in qualifiers

Mississauga Panthers and Toronto Nationals made their exit from the GT20 Canada by going down tamely to their rivals Surrey Jaguars and Vancouver Knights in the last round of group matches on Wednesday.

Toronto Nationals needed to win their last game against Vancouver Knights by scoring 129 runs in 18. 3 overs. But they folded up at 103 in 15.3 overs after some lusty hitting by Bravo and Zaman that took them past the 100 mark. A big disappointment for the Nationals was former Pakistan captain and all-rounder Shahid Afridi who was out the first ball at a time when the team needed him most. He fell to Bosch.

An early collapse made the Toronto Nationals slump from 31/0 in three overs to 45/5 in 6 overs. They never recovered from the early shocks though Bravo and Zaman did try hard to put Toronto Nationals back in the game. Bravo made 28 while Zaman chipped in with 14. Earlier, Nicolas  Kirton (19) and Hamza (14) tried to steady National’s innings. Shahid Afridi bowled well claiming two wickets for 16 runs. Vancouver Knights scored 128 for seven in 20 overs mainly because of Corbin Bosch 30, Najabullah Zadran  18, Harsh Thakker 23 and Mohd Rizwan 27. Sikander Raza and Shahid Afridi claimed two wickets each while Farhan and Fahrenheit took one wicket each of Vancouver Knights.
Local boy Harsh Thacker had a good match. After scoring 23 for Vancouver Knights, he was the most successful bowler for his team taking four for 29. Corbin Bosch was economical as he finished with three for 11 while Junaid Siddique got two wickets for 30.
Interestingly, both Harsh and Junaid had the distinction of claiming two wickets in one over each.
On Friday, after a day’s rest, Surrey Jaguars will take on Vancouver Knights and Montreal Tigers will play Brampton Wolves. The winners of the first game will go to the final while the loser of that match will play the winner of the second match to decide the second finalist for Sunday.
There was a commotion in the game today when Rayan Pathan was declared out by video umpire but later decision was changed to not out. However, he was out next ball caught at short mid-wicket.
Mayor of Brampton Patrick Brown was seen distributing freebies to spectators in the stands. Luckily for spectators, there was no rain though at times thick black clouds were hanging low. The overcast sky did not affect the enthusiasm of cricket revellers as the stands were nearly filled more than any of the previous days.

Prabhjot Singh