GT20 Canada 2023: How did the international players fare in Brampton Wolves vs Toronto Nationals, Match 5?

The 5th match of the 2023 GT20 Canada edition turned out to be a nail-biting thriller between Brampton Wolves and Toronto Nationals. The game unfolded on July 23 at the CAA Centre in Brampton.

Colin Munro and Tariq gave Toronto Nationals an ideal start as they were comfortably cruising along at 71/2 during the 9th over.

However, Brampton Wolves bowlers made a comeback and picked up wickets in quick succession during the middle overs. In no time, the Nationals found themselves go from 100/2 to 105/5, in the space of two overs.

They had lost their way during the middle overs but a handy contribution from Nicholas Kirton and Faheem Ashraf dragged Nationals to a respectable total of 142.

Brampton Wolves got off to a shaky start, losing their top 3 inside the first 6 overs with only 34 runs on board. A steady partnership between Hussain Talat and Colin de Grandhomme helped Wolves steady the ship.

A calculated innings from Rizwan Cheema (35 off 28) and Chris Green (12 off 13) at the fag end of the match helped Brampton Wolves clinch a narrow victory.

With the match now officially coming to a close, here is a brief rundown on how the international stars from either side performed.

Colin Munro (TN)

Monro had an ideal start to his innings but was unable to push on further. He made a well-constructed score of 24 (22) which included 3 fours and 1 six. He fell to Tim Southee during the 9th over of the first innings.

Shahid Afridi (TN)

The former Pakistan captain had a decent outing during this match. He could not score enough runs initially and was knocked over on 15 (12) by Shahid Ahmadzai during the 13th over.

However, he did have a strong impact with the ball. Afridi picked up two key wickets of Southee and Logan van Beek and conceded only 6 runs in 2 overs.

Gerhard Erasmus (TN)

The Namibian spin-bowling all-rounder had a day to forget as he faltered on multiple fronts. Erasmus bagged a golden duck in the first innings as he was dismissed by Shahid Ahmadzai during the 13th over which did not allow Nationals to flourish. And with the ball, he went for plenty and conceded 27 runs in just two overs while going wicketless.

JJ Smit (TN)

Smit lacked momentum in his innings and perished for a paltry score of 1 (6) during the 14th over. His dismissal triggered a collapse for Brampton Wolves as they failed to put on a strong total despite getting off to a flyer.

Faheem Ashraf (TN)

Ashraf got a few runs under his belt, scoring 13 (11) before being castled by Van Beek during the 18th over. He showed a great amount of control with the ball though, returning formidable figures of 2/21 in 3 overs, which included key wickets of Mark Chapman and Hussain Talat.

Zaman Khan (TN)

Zaman had a minor role to play with the bat today as he scored 2 (4) and remained unbeaten towards the end of the innings. But he certainly hit the ground running once he got the ball in hand.

Zaman grabbed 3 wickets with an astounding economy rate of 6 RPO. His tight spell with the ball kept Toronto Nationals in the hunt till the last over of the game.

Fazalhaq Farooqi (TN)

Farooqi did not get a chance to bat, but with the ball, he proved to be quite expensive. In his three overs, the Afghan pacer leaked 27 runs at nearly 9 RPO with just one wicket to his name. He conceded 4 boundaries and 3 wides in his entire spell.

Mark Chapman (BV)

Chapman got off to a decent start with the bat. But his journey came to an end during the last ball of the 5th over when Asraf bowled a peach of a delivery to knock him over. He scored 21 (16) at a strike rate of 131.25, which involved 4 boundaries.

Hussain Talat (BV)

Talat was the man of the hour for Brampton Wolves as they relied on his contribution to get them over the finishing line. He bowled a fine spell of 1/22 with the ball, going at an Economy Rate of 7 RPO. During Brampton’s chase, Talat scored a valiant knock of 44 (33) to steer the Wolves to a narrow 1-wicket victory.

Colin de Grandhomme (BV)

The former New Zealand all-rounder did not take part with the ball but managed to make a small contribution with the bat. He could only score 11 (6) which involved two boundaries. His time came to a close when he was dismissed by Farhan Malik during the 9th over the second innings.

Logan van Beek (BV)

Van Beek carried on his form from the last game and was exceptional with the ball today. Although he was dismissed without troubling the scorers, Van Beek acquired 3 wickets while conceding only 27 runs in his allotted 4 overs.

Tim Southee (BV)

Southee was dismissed first ball in the second innings by Shahid Afridi, pushing the game to the knife's edge. But he was exceptional with the ball. In his allotted overs, the seamer conceded 26 runs at 6.5 RPO and picked up two prize wickets of Farhan Malik and Hamza Tariq.

Jan Frylinck (BV)

Jan Frylinck was expensive with the ball today. He only managed to bowl one solitary over which cost him a whopping 14 runs while going wicketless. However, he held his nerve and stayed till the very end to hit the winning runs on the last ball of the match off Shahid Afridi, which got Wolves over the line.

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