GT20 Canada: How did the international players fare in Vancouver Knights vs Montreal Tigers, Qualifier 2?

The much-awaited Qualifier 2 match of the 2023 GT20 Canada kicked off on August 5 between Vancouver Knights and Montreal Tigers at 9:30 PM IST. The clash turned out to be a low-scoring thriller that went down the wire keeping the fans right on the edge of their seats. Tigers managed to hold their nerves and clinched a narrow one-wicket victory to knock Vancouver Knights out of this year’s competition.

Knights did make an ideal start to their first innings and were cruising along nicely at 90-1 in 12 overs. But following the dismissal of Mohammad Rizwan and Corbin Bosch, they were jolted by a quick flurry of wickets which significantly impacted their scoring rate. Harsh Thaker and Fabian Allen added a few runs in the backend but the Knights ended with a below-par score of 137.

In response, Montreal Tigers got off to a very shaky start as the top-order batters failed to stitch any significant partnerships in the middle. By the end of the first strategic time-out, Montreal had lost four wickets for just 45 runs in just seven overs. Junaid Siddique and Fabian Allen were particularly keeping it tight during the middle overs as the duo regularly chipped in with wickets.

But a quickfire cameo by Aayan Khan followed by the heroics of Sherfane Rutherford helped Montreal Tigers clinch a hard-fought victory by a very bare margin. With the Qualifier 2 match officially coming to a close, here is a quick snapshot of how the international players performed in today’s fixture.

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Mohammad Rizwan (VK)

Rizwan made a useful contribution with the bat in a low-scoring thriller. He was the highest run-scorer for Vancouver Knights scoring 39 (33) which involved two fours and a six. He was eventually dismissed by Aayan Afzal Khan during the 14th over of the first innings. Besides, he took a fine catch off the bowling of Junaid Siddique behind the stumps which brought an end to Lynn’s paltry innings.

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Vriitya Aravind (VK)

Aravind consumed a lot of deliveries early on and was unable to accelerate with the bat. He was the first Vancouver Knights’ wicket to fall. He played a very sedate knock of 7 (16) and was eventually dismissed by Abbas Afridi during the sixth over of the first innings.

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Rassie van der Dussen (VK)

Rassie bagged an unbelievable golden ball duck as he failed to open his account against Abbas Afridi. He was dismissed during the 13th over of the first innings. However, he was fairly active on the field and pulled a brilliant catch off the bowling of Crbin Bosch to effect the dismissal of Muhammad Waseem.

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Najibullah Zadran (VK)

Najibullah too perished cheaply just like Rassie as he was dismissed for a golden duck by Abbas Afridi. He was dismissed during the last ball of the 13th over.

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Fabian Allen (VK)

Fabian tried to put up substantial resistance with the bat during the back end of the first innings. He scored 10 (9) which included a six, and was eventually dismissed by Abbas Afridi during the 17th over of the first innings. However, he was pretty immaculate with the ball and leaked just 15 runs in his two overs while managing to pick up two wickets.

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Ruben Trumpelmann (VK)

Trumpelmann did not get the chance to bat but played a decent part with the ball. In his allotted four overs, the tall left-arm quick managed to grab a key wicket of Carlos Brathwaite and conceded just at 7.25 RPO. He bowled eight dots in his entire spell and conceded four boundaries.

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Junaid Siddique (VK)

Junaid did not get the chance to bat but he certainly had a tremendous impact with the ball. He picked up the bulk of the wickets for the Knights and kept everyone on the edge with his tight bowling. He finished with very impressive figures of 4/22 and conceded just one four and a six in his entire four-over spell.

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Muhammad Waseem (MT)

Waseem looked to tee off in the early part of the second innings. Just when he was beginning to shift gears, Corbin Bosch got into the act and got rid of him during the second over of the second innings. He scored a rapid 13 (7) which comprised two sixes.

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Chris Lynn (MT)

Lynn perished very cheaply for just 7(6) off the bowling of Junaid Siddique. He managed to hit just one boundary in his short innings and was dismissed during the fourth over of the match.

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Sherfane Rutherford (MT)

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Rutherford was the mainstay of the Montreal Tigers’ innings as he played a match-defining knock of 48* (34) to steer his side to a nail-biting victory. He along with Dipendra Singh Airee tried to hold the Montreal innings together which ultimately saw them get over the finishing line. He smashed two fours and three sixes and stayed unbeaten till the end to hit the winning runs.

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Dipendra Singh Airee (MT)

Aerie too batted sensibly like his partner Rutherford and scored a well-structured knock of 25 (28) which included two fours. He was eventually castled by Corbin Bosch during the 13th over of the second innings.

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Andre Russell (MT)

Russell went wicketless in his four overs and conceded 22 runs. Although he did not do much justice to his wicket column, he proved quite economical with the ball as he conceded just 1 four in his entire spell. He played a decent cameo of 17 (11) at the end which comprised a four and two sixes. His stay came to an end once he was cleaned up by Junaid Siddique during the 15th over of the second innings.

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Carlos Brathwaite (MT)

Carlos was quite wayward with his bowling and went for plenty. He did not have any success with the ball and leaked 37 runs at almost 9.5 RPO. He couldn’t get going with the bat either as he was dismissed for just 1 (2) by Trumpelmann during the 16th over of the second innings.

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Aayan Afzal Khan (MT)

Aayan was tidy with the ball for the most part and gave away 30 runs in his 4 overs spell while he managed to grab a solitary scalp of Mohammad Rizwan. He bowled seven dots in his spell and conceded two sixes. However, he provided a valuable contribtion of 18 (14) which prevented Montreal Kings from getting bundles out cheaply. He was later dismissed by Junaid Siddique during the penultimate over of the second innings.

Note: Domestic players playing for Canadian Cricket Team have not been featured in the article