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What a edge of the seat thriller between the Montreal Tigers and the Vancouver Knights but in the end, it was the brilliance of Sherfane Rutherford which ensured, the Tigers won the match by 1 wicket. We have seen quite a few low scoring thrillers in the tournament and the trend could continue tomorrow. The big final coming up and it will be the Montreal Tigers up against the Surrey Jaguars. It's expected to be a fascinating battle yet again. Do join us and keep following Sportskeeda for all the latest sporting action. For now, this is myself (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) signing off also on behalf of my fellow commentator and good mate Sooryanarayan Sesha. Goodnight! Cheers!
Abbas Afridi (Player of the Match): I would thank almighty, it was a big match for us. I am very happy to perform so well. I enjoyed my bowling. Yeah, he is a great captain and makes us understand very well. Our dressing room is very happy. I keep using my variations an whenever I get a chance I bowl the slower ones. Rassie's wicket was my favourite.
Chris Lynn (Montreal Tigers captain): Look we had our ups and downs. We still had a decent total on the board. Lot of confidence going in tomorrow but the jo is not done. The guys have getting better all through the tournament. Super proud of the guys to make the final. We win or lose tomorrow, I am super proud of the boys. It was edge-of-the-seat stuff. Losing wickets wasn't easy so Sherfane keeping his cool was quite exceptional. Powerful display but we have to be up for the final.
Rassie van der Dussen (Vancouver Knights captain): Unlucky I think - we didn't deserve to lose that game. I think we played very good cricket throughout the tournament. But Sherfane, we couldn't get him out again. We had to gamble on one over and we went with Pathan. I can't fault anyone in the team really. Just wasn't our year I suppose. I love coming here - Toronto is a great place. People are so passionate about cricket here.
Match Summary: Montreal Tigers beat Vancouver Knights by 1 wicket to qualify for the final of GT20 Canada 2023.
Sherfane Rutherford 48* (34) | Abbas Afridi 5/29 (4) Mohammad Rizwan 39 (33) | Junaid Siddique 4/22 (4)
It wasn't a huge chase but coming into this game, we were aware that scoring runs isn't easy on this surface. However, with a powerful batting lineup, the Tigers would have backed themselves to chase this down. The start proved to be perfect as Muhammad Waseem smashed Fabian Allen for a couple of sixes in the very first over which got the Tigers going. The introduction of Corbin Bosch brought about the departure of Waseem in his very first delivery.
Chris Lynn started off with a crisp boundary before a strangle down the leg side brought about his downfall. Srimantha Wijeratne's troubles continued as Fabian Allen trapped him right in front of the stumps. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals as the Tigers were reduced to 29/4 inside the powerplay. They desperately needed a partnership and that was provided by Sherfane Rutherford and Dipendra Singh Airee.
Some sensible batting ensured that the comeback was on but his departure again turned the scenario. Andre Russell smashed a couple of lusty blows and it looked like he would finish it off early but Junaid Siddiqui had other ideas. Russell dragged one back to his stumps before Trumplemann dismissed Carlos Brathwaite in the next over.
Two more wickets in the penultimate over meant that the Montreal Tigers needed 15 more to win off the final over with just a wicket in hand. The decision to hand the ball to Rayyan Pathan didn't quite work the way Rassie would have wanted. He kept bowling slower one on the surface and Rutherford didn't take much time to finish it off. Three consecutive sixes ensured that the target was chased down with three deliveries to spare.
Take a bow Sherfane Rutherford! Spare of thought for Rayyan Pathan but that was a questionable decision from Rassie van der Dussen. Fabian Allen was there with international experience but he went with Rayyan which didn't really work. In the end, the Montreal Tigers storms to the final and have a great chance of lifting the cup. Rutherford batted sensibly all through the innings and when it mattered the most, he just smashed three sixes to finish it off without any fuss.
19.3 Rayyan Pathan to Sherfane Rutherford, SHERFANE RUTHERFORD! REMEMBER THE NAMEEEEE! It's not Carlos Brathwaite but his teammate who gets the job done. Bedlam in Brampton as the Tigers charge onto the park! Pathan is dejected but alas, it wasn't his job to bowl this last over with Rassie van der Dussen's decision backfiring massively. Around the wicket, angling into the stumps on a back of a length radar as he takes pace off. Rutherford holds a still base and picks it up and over the backward square leg fence off his hips to deposit it over the fence. After plenty of twists and turns and ebbs and flows, Montreal Tigers book a spot in the final of the GT20 Canada 2023 with a 1-wicket win!
3 needed off 4 deliveries.
Back to back sixes from Sherfane Rutherford and how many twists and turns have we seen in this game? Rutherford picking the slower delivery again and that has been dispatched well over the deep square leg fence. Now the Tigers are in the box seat and it's for them to lose here from now.
19.2 Rayyan Pathan to Sherfane Rutherford, SIX MORE! RUTHERFORD'S DUMPED THIS INTO MONTREAL! Too short this time at the stumps as he sends down an off-cutter and Rutherford picks the length early to latch onto it. Clears his front leg and wallops a pull out of the park over square leg. My goodness, we're having another ball change now. Just 3 needed off 4...
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CAA Centre, Brampton
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