Global T20 Canada, Toronto Nationals vs Vancouver Knights: 5 Talking Points
The Global T20 in Canada got off to a rocking start as the Chris Gayle-led side Vancouver Knights (VCK) failed to defend 227 against Darren Sammy’s Toronto Nationals (TTN). Almost 460 runs were scored in the game as the ball kept flying all around.
Powered by Evin Lewis’ powerful 96 and a blazing 54 from Andre Russell, VCK got to 227 after they were put into bat by TTN. While most of the bowlers were taken for plenty of runs, Canada off-spinner Nikhil Dutta was the pick of the bowlers as he had figures of 2/26 in his 4 overs.
Chasing a mammoth 228, TTN lost Nizakat Khan in the first over, but Johnston Charles scored a quickfire 30 before Steve Smith who was playing his first competitive game since being banned by Cricket Australia (CA) contributed very well as he struck a 41-ball 61 before Anton Devcich came out all guns firing and took TTN home with a brutal 92.
#5 Boundaries galore in the opening game
Flat pitches have become very common all around the globe for limited-overs cricket. Recently, we saw England shatter records to score 481 in an ODI against Australia. They scored 41 fours and 21 sixes in their innings.
It was no different in this opening game of the Global T20 Canada. Throughout the game, to be precise 458 runs were scored and 73% of those runs came in boundaries. VCK scored 13 fours and 19 sixes in their innings with Evin Lewis alone contributing with 5 fours and 10 sixes.
On the other hand, TTN went a step ahead as they outscored VCK in the boundary count as they hit 22 fours and 12 sixes.