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.
#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.