Global Canada T20, Toronto Nationals vs Winnipeg Hawks, 7th Match: 5 Talking Points

All eyes were on Steve Smith and David Warner as they squared off against each other while representing Toronto Nationals (TTN) and Winnipeg Hawks (WPH) respectively. TTN skipper Darren Sammy inserted WPH into bat after winning the toss.

After David Warner’s third failure, Lendl Simmons got his third successive start but failed to convert once again and was out for 44. They slipped from 77/1 to 80/4 before Steve Smith was hit for four sixes by David Miller and Dwayne Bravo. But some very good death bowling helped the Nationals restrict them to 164. All the pacers bowled well but surprisingly, the spinners went for plenty on what was a sluggish track.

Chasing 165, TTN were in all sorts of trouble as they were reduced to 30/4 in the powerplay. Anton Devcich tried resurrecting the innings as he struck 34. Pollard contributed with 25 and till he was there, TTN had a chance, but once he was dismissed, it was a formality. Fidel Edwards was brilliant throughout the game and a good collective bowling effort from the Hawks helped them register their second win of the tournament.

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#5 An all too familiar start for the Hawks

This is Winnipeg Hawks’ third game and every game has had a similar start. David Warner has either fallen in the first or second over and then Lendl Simmons has got a good start before throwing it away.

Today, Warner was run out on the last ball off the first over as he tried to sneak a single and Anton Devcich’s direct hit caught him short. Simmons went past his previous scores of 36 and 24 but missed out on a half-century as he was dismissed for 44.

In his 34-ball knock, the 33-year-old West Indian opener struck 4 fours and 3 sixes and once again looked set for a big score. However, Kieron Pollard foxed him with a clever slower delivery to end his stay at the crease. Hence, for three games in a row, Warner has missed out and Simmons has got out after a start.

#4 Kieron Pollard’s excellent spell

Global T20 Canada

Kieron Pollard’s bowling in the last few years has gone down and he hasn’t bowled quite a lot as well. In fact, he hardly bowled a few overs in 2017. While he did bowl on some occasions in the Big Bash (BBL) and the Pakistan Super League (PSL), he did not bowl a single over in the IPL (in whatever games he played).

He did bowl in the previous two games of this tournament and did reasonably well. But in this game, he was excellent. He was introduced immediately after the powerplay and bowled a three-run opening over before he got the well-set Lendl Simmons in his second over as he conceded just 5 in his first two overs.

Pollard then bowled his last two overs for just 9 runs as he finished his quota with figures of 1/14. He mixed it up nicely as he largely bowled the cutters (both off-cutters and leg-cutters) and the seam-up on occasions. Hence, his variations helped TTN pull things back.

#3 Hawks struggle at the death as the Nationals operate smartly

Toronto Nationals v Vancouver Knights: Global T20 Canada

After a good start where the Hawks had scored 77 in the first 9 overs, it did seem like they were set for a big score. But three wickets in the span of 9 deliveries saw them slip from 77/1 to 80/4.

But a 45-run partnership between Dwayne Bravo and David Miller put them back on track. However, once Miller was dismissed, WPH struggled as they could only manage 49 runs in their last 7 overs. Bravo who had raced off to 25 in 13 balls, struggled not only in finding the fence but also struggled to rotate the strike freely. Tion Webster scored a sluggish 13 as well.

The TTN bowlers bowled well and were quite smart in how they bowled. The pitch was holding up and gripping as well. Hence, they used the pitch, mixed it cleverly with slower balls and banged it into the pitch as the batsmen struggled to get away. In fact, in the last 7 overs, WPH scored only 7 boundaries (2 sixes and 5 fours, out of which one was leg-byes) and in total, they played 50 dot balls in their entire innings.

#2 Toronto lose wickets in clusters

Toronto Nationals v Vancouver Knights: Global T20 Canada

TTN were quite cautious at the start as the sluggish pitch was playing its tricks. It was gripping and holding up and chasing 165, they had reached 26/2 in 5 overs and had lost Smith. Bravo who bowled the final over of the powerplay further dented TTN with a double strike as he dismissed Johnson Charles and Nitish Kumar in the space of 3 deliveries and it reduced the Nationals to 30/4.

But Anton Devcich and Kieron Pollard tried getting TTN back on track but a three-wicket over from Tion Webster almost killed the game. He dismissed Devcich, Darren Sammy and Mohammed Naveed in the same over as the WPH came right back in the game and were favourites at that stage, despite the presence of the big-hitting Kieron Pollard.

In the end, TTN were bowled out for 108 as they slumped to their second successive defeat.

#1 Fidel Edwards’ fiery spell bowls the Hawks to victory

Hampshire v Surrey - Specsavers County Championship: Division One

Fidel Edwards last played a T20 game almost a year ago and that was in the Natwest T20 Blast in England. That was just a one-off and it was only in 2015 when he played back-to-back games.

In this game, he came onto bowl in the 5th over and troubled Steve Smith from the word go. He had the former Aussie skipper in all sorts of trouble as well. Eventually, after 4 deliveries of misery, Smith’s stay at the crease was cut short by a rising short delivery. Edwards bowled a wicket-maiden, to begin with, and then conceded just 6 in his next over.

He then came back in the 14th over and bowled a 1-run over. And then in the final over, he dismissed Kieron Pollard who had struck two sixes and one four in the previous over. Edwards finished with figures of 2/8 in his four overs as his fiery spell gave the Hawks their second win.