Global T20 Canada, Montreal Tigers vs CWI B Team, 4th Match: 5 Talking Points

After a couple of one-sided encounters, the Global T20 Canada saw another high-scoring thriller. Montreal Tigers (MNT), led by Sri Lankan ace pacer Lasith Malinga, suffered their second straight loss in as many days as an Anthony Bramble-led CWI B Team (CWIB) chased down 184 in the last over with 2 wickets in hand.

MNT won the toss for the second time in a row and this time they opted to bat first. They got to 183/9 in their 20 overs as a slew of wickets towards the death saw them fluff what was an excellent start. But 183 still looked a very competitive total and with a star-studded bowling attack, MNT would’ve fancied their chances.

CWIB lost their skipper Anthony Bramble on the first delivery of the chase. But fifties from Nicholas Pooran and Brandon King put them on course to chase 184 down. But wickets at regular intervals saw them slip to 176/7 in the 18th over. They were still favorites but an excellent 19th over from Sandeep Lamichhane dragged the game to the last over where 20-year-old Shamar Springer held his nerve and finished the game, taking CWIB home.

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#5 A day of manic powerplays

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After Edmonton Royals scored 93 in their powerplay, it was the turn of Montreal Tigers and CWI B Team to have manic powerplays. Both teams scored in excess of 70 runs as they got off to flying starts.

MNT’s innings got going with Sunil Narine striking the second ball of the game for six over long-on. The carnage continued as the second over went for 16 while a 10-ball 3rd over was thrashed for 26 runs. Despite the dismissals of Narine and his opening partner Dwayne Smith, Moises Henriques came in and struck a few lusty blows as MNT ended the powerplay with 74 on the board.

Chasing 184, CWIB lost Anthony Bramble on the first delivery but Brandon King who came into bat at No. 3 didn’t let that affect his team as he struck a couple of sixes and a four to end the first over. Sherfane Rutherford made 22 as he hit 2 fours and 2 sixes to give his team a flying start.

The hitting continued as Nicholas Pooran took charge and raced to 31 in 14 balls as King took a backseat. CWIB finished their powerplay slightly better than their opponents as they hit 77 in the first six.

#4 Sikandar Raza once again stars with the bat

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Zimbabwe star Sikandar Raza, who had top-scored in MNT’s first game, was once again the top-scorer with 47. He struck 3 fours and 2 sixes in his 37-ball stay at the crease. He held the innings together as wickets kept tumbling around him.

He walked out to bat in the 9th over with MNT at 89/3 and they lost Moises Henriques three balls later. Raza largely tried to steady the ship as he looked for the gaps and scored an odd boundary here and there. And then towards the death, he started finding the boundary and was eventually dismissed for 47 in the final over, missing out on a well-deserved half-century.

#3 MNT batsmen once again fall after getting starts

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In their first game, most of the Tigers’ batsmen were guilty of throwing away their starts. It was no different in this game as for the second game in a row, most batsmen fell after getting a decent start.

Sikandar Raza once again was the top-scorer and was the only batsman who went past the 30-run mark. 7 out of the top 8 batsmen got into double figures and also scored at least a couple of boundaries but none of them could convert their starts into a big one.

Experienced players Narine, Smith, Henriques, and Denesh Ramdin wasted starts and it hurt the Tigers in the end as they lost their second game in a row.

#2 Sandeep Lamichhane goes for plenty but regular day in the office for Sunil Narine

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17-year-old star leg-spinner from Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane had a tough day as he conceded 57 in his 4 overs and picked up just one wicket. He came onto bowl in the 5th over and was smashed for a couple of sixes and a four in his first over. He went for 22 runs in his opening over.

He then conceded 10 in his next over before getting smashed for 25 runs in his 3rd over. He conceded 56 runs in his first 3 overs and it didn’t look like he would complete his quota and bowl a 4th over. But Malinga surprised everyone as he backed the young Nepal leggie to bowl the 19th over and the latter delivered as he conceded just 1 and also picked up a wicket to keep MNT in the hunt. But overall, it was a tough day for him as he had an economy of 14.25.

Sunil Narine scored a quickfire 28 at the top which gave MNT a flying start. With the ball, Narine was disappointing in the first game as he went for 35 and couldn’t pick up a wicket as well. But he was back to his regular best as he gave away just 15 runs in his 4 overs and also picked up the wicket of opener Sherfane Rutherford.

#1 20-year-old Shamar Springer holds his nerve after manic 18th and 19th overs

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Nicholas Pooran and Brandon King struck excellent fifties and also shared a very good 76-run stand for the third wicket which put CWIB in a position of strength. Pooran who had scored 58 in 35 balls (6 fours and 2 sixes) was dismissed in the 12th over and King got out in the 15th over for a 32-ball 56 (5 fours and 4 sixes). But when the latter was dismissed, CWIB needed just 39 runs in 34 deliveries.

And everything seemed on course with just 12 required in 3 overs and five wickets in hand. But two wickets in the 18th over which was bowled by Malinga and a brilliant 19th over by Sandeep Lamichhane where he went for just 1 run (and also took a wicket) brought the equation down to 3 off the final over.

Shamar Springer, who was a part of West Indies’ Under-19 World Cup winning team in 2016, had batted well and was on 21 at the end of the 19th over. The pressure was on him as he needed to decide whether to go for the big shot or look for 1s and 2s and trust the No. 10 batsman.

George Worker, who had taken the all-important wicket of Brandon King, was bowling the last over. But Springer held his nerve and finished things off on the first delivery as he struck a length ball for a six over long-on and won the game for CWIB.