Global T20 Canada, Vancouver Knights vs Toronto Nationals, 17th Match, Round 2: 5 Talking Points
The Chris Gayle-led Vancouver Knights rolled over Toronto Nationals as they beat the Darren Sammy-led by a comfortable 8 wicket margin to ascend to the top of the points table.
After being put into bat, none of the TTN batsmen showed any resistance as they kept losing wickets and eventually were bowled out for 103. Steve Smith was the top-scorer with 35 while Kamran Akmal and Darren Sammy were the other two batsmen who made it to double figures.
It was a complete bowling performance from the Knights. Andre Russell and Fawad Ahmed shared three wickets apiece and the others chipped in as well.
Chasing a modest 104, Chris Gayle didn’t open the batting and it was the pair of Chadwick Walton and Ben Dunk that walked out. The former struck an unbeaten 54 which took the Knights home with ease.
#5 Johnson Charles continues to struggle
Johnson Charles just hasn’t been able to get going in this Global T20 Canada tournament. He has scored just 65 runs in 6 innings and has a highest score of 30 which came in the first game of the tournament.
He has failed to give the Nationals a good start at the top and more often than not, he is dismissed quite early in the powerplay which puts pressure on the other batsmen. In this game, he bagged a first-ball duck as he edged one to gully off Tim Southee in the first over of the game.
This was his second consecutive duck and fourth single-digit score (out of 6 innings) in this tournament. Hence, it was a pretty poor season for the 29-year-old Windies opener.