Vancouver Knight Riders Put an End to Brampton Wolves’ Winning Streak in Global T20 Canada

By Ravendra Madholall in Toronto
Vancouver Knight Riders produced an impressive all-round performance to end defending champions Brampton Wolves’ four-match unbeaten streak Friday when action continued in the 2023 third edition of Global T20 at Brampton Sports Park, Ontario, Canada.

Riders surged to an efficient, nine-wicket victory and in the process, recorded their second win from as four matches as well.

Brampton Wolves batted first at the invitation of Vancouver Knight Riders but only managed 129-9 from the 20-overs.

Riders’ chase was led by Pakistanis Mohammad Rizwan and South African Corbin Bosch with 52 and 50 not out respectively to see Riders successfully reaching 133-1 with 17 balls remaining.

Rizwan, playing his first match of the six-franchised tournament after he was on international duties in Sri Lanka, hit one of his the two fours to seal the deal.

The diminutive right-handed Rizwan also lifted two effortless sixes from 42 balls while Bosch struck five fours and a six, an innings spanned 41 deliveries.

They two also featured in a captivating, 104-run second-wicket stand after the inform Fakhar Zaman was bowled by pacer Logan van Beek for 21.

Earlier, Brampton Wolves lost two early wickets which affected their momentum. Their innings was tormented by quickie left-arm pacer Ruben Trumpelmann, who grabbed 4-25 from his maximum four overs while another seamer Junaid Siddique collected 2-25 also from four overs.

Max O’Dowd (07) and Mark Champman (3) were the early victims, but opener Usman Khan and Hussain Talat stabilized things.

Both perished in quick succession to signal another struggle on an unpredictable pitch. Khan made 18 while Talat scored 20.

Top-batsman and New Zealander Colin de Grandhomme (01) departed cheaply as well and followed by Canadian player Rizwan Cheema (00) to leave their team tottering at 64-6.

However, a late order resistance by Chris Green (23) was able to propel the decent total quite considerably.

Trumpelmann was later named player-of-the-match for his oustanding bowling display at the post-match presentation.

In the other match, star-studded team Mississagua Panthers failed to make another impact as they were rolled over by Surrey Jaguars with 55-run loss.

Panthers have now suffered five straight defeats since the commencement of the tournament on July 20th. They won the toss and opted to bowl. The decision backfired on them as Jaguars roared to a daunting 164-6 from the 20-overs. Panthers only responded with 109 all out off 17-overs.

Their reply never got going as heavy-weight batsman Chris “Universal Boss” Gayle only scored 4. However, Cameron Delport offered a fight by knocking 33 and 31 from Shreyaz Movva. Mississagua Panthers lost their last six wickets for 23 runs, which was a manifestation of their poor form in this campaign.

Nepal’s high-profile leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichanne, who instigated the ultimate collapse by removing Jimmy Neesham (01) stumped, ended with impressive figures of 3-18 from three economical overs while Australian left-arm deceptive seamer Spencer Johnson also picked up three wickets but conceded 25 runs in his four-over spell. Matthew Forde supported them with two for 14 (3).

After Jaguars were put into the bat, opener Jatindra Singh, the Oman’s veteran batsman, batted beautifully to hit an accomplished half-century (57). His innings was characterised with five fours and a six and ably shared an admirable 60-run first-wicket stand with English player Alex Hales to lay a solid platform. Hales contributed 39 before he was dimissed off seamer Zahoor Khan, who was the leading wicket-taker, 3-36 from his maxium four overs. Litton Das scored 25 as well.

Meanwhile, the action will continue on Saturday with another double-header. From 11:00 am, Toronto Nationals will clash with Montreal Tigers while at 3:30 pm, Surrey Jaguars coming up against Vancouver Knight Riders.

Defending champion Brampton Wolves leading the points table with Montreal Tigers occupying the second spot and Nationals in third seat. Riders at number 4 with Surrey Jaguars sitting at 5 and Panthers languishing at the bottom.

The championship game is slated for Sunday, August 6th.