GT20 Canada: How did the international players fare in Vancouver Knights vs Montreal Tigers, Match 9?

The 9th match of the 2023 GT20 Canada edition kicked off at CAA Centre in Brampton on July 26 between Vancouver Knights vs Montreal Tigers.

Vancouver Knights made a reasonable start to their innings thanks to the contribution made by Fakhar Zaman who scored a brilliant 73 (53). Once he was dismissed, Vancouver’s scoring rate dropped drastically and towards the end Montreal bowlers restricted them to just 149.

Montreal Tigers were off to a shaky start losing their top 3 for just 21 runs on the board. But, Sherfane Rutherford and Dipendra Singh Airee took stock of the situation during the middle overs and piled up an unbeaten 86-run stand to power Montreal to a 6-wicket victory.

With the match now officially coming to a close, here is a brief rundown on how the international starts from either side performed.

Fakhar Zaman (VK)

The 2017 Champions Trophy sensation Fakhar Zaman did the bulk of the heavy lifting for his side to push the Vancouver Knights to 149. He played free-flowing cricket and piled up 73 off 53 balls at an impressive strike rate of 137.73. In his entire innings, the 33-year-old smashed 7 fours and 3 sixes.

Following his dismissal to Airee during the 16th over, the Knights lost their way as their scoring rate slowed down drastically at the death

Rassie van der Dussen (VK)

Rassie played a painfully slow knock of 26 (23) which cost his side the ability to post a strong total. He consumed a lot of dot balls and could only hit three boundaries in his entire innings. His labored stay at the crease came to a close when he was dismissed by Brathwaite during the 19th over of the first innings.

Najibullah Zadran (VK)

Zadran scored an unbeaten 8 (13) at a very slow rate of 61.53 at the backend of the innings. He did not take any part with the ball.

Vriitya Aravind (VK)

UAE’s limited overs specialist did not get a chance to participate with the bat.

Fabian Allen (VK)

Fabian did not get a chance to bat in this match, but bowled a good yet slightly expensive spell of 2/18 in his two overs. He bowled 6 dots, conceded 1 six & 2 wides, and picked up the prize wickets of Waseem and Lynn early on in the chase.

Ruben Trumpelmann (VK)

The Namibian left-arm speedster went for plenty, going at almost 11 RPO. In a little over 2 overs, Ruben conceded 24 runs which comprised 4 fours and 1 six. He did however manage to pick up an important wicket of Shakib Al Hasan during the 3rd over of the second innings.

Junaid Siddique (VK)

Siddique bowled 3 overs in the game but went wicketless. In his 3-over spell, he conceded 28 runs at 9.33 RPO and leaked 1 four, 2 sixes, and 2 wides.

Muhammad Waseem (MT)

Waseem perished early on in the innings for just 1 (3). He was dismissed by Allen during the 3rd ball of the second innings leaving his side in a slight spot of bother.

Chris Lynn (MT)

Montreal Tigers were rocked early when they lost their star batsman for a 2-ball duck. The dynamic T20 specialist batsman from Australia could not open his account and was cleaned up by Allen in the same over as Waseem was dismissed.

Shakib Al Hasan (MT)

Shakib was taken to the cleaners as his 4 overs cost him a whopping 41 runs at almost 10 RPO. During his entire spell, he went wicketless and conceded 4 fours and 1 six. He couldn’t get going with the bat either as he was dismissed for 12 (8) by Trumpelmann.

Sherfane Rutherford (MT)

Rutherford played a breathtaking knock of 84* (53) to rescue his side from 67-4. He batted with maturity and smashed 7 fours and 6 sixes in his entire innings. Rutherford and Airee put on an unbeaten 86-run stand for the 5th wicket to steer Montreal Tigers to a comfortable victory.

Dipendra Singh Airee (MT)

Airee had a very impressive outing in today’s game and made key contributions while he was on the field. Firstly, he affected the run-out dismissal of Yash Thaker during the 10th over with a razor-sharp throw. Secondly, he bowled a tidy spell of 1/16 in his three overs which included a prize wicket of Fakhar Zaman.

And finally, with the bat, he played a sensible knock of 22* (22) and supported Rutherford down at the other end to get his side over the finishing line.

Carlos Brathwaite (MT)

Carlos Brathwaite did not get a chance to bat but he certainly had a good impact with the ball. In his allotted overs, he only conceded runs at 5 RPO and picked up two major scalps of Pathan and Van Der Dusssen which significantly slowed Vancouver’s scoring rate down.