When it rains it pours. But that wasn’t going to stop die-hard cricket fans from turning up in droves for the fourth Global T20 Canada championship that saw Toronto Nationals battle through the back door to be crowned champions by thumping Montreal by eight wickets. These last two weeks was definitely no smooth sailing for the organizers as rain, coupled with a playoff controversy, added to their woes. And, to compound matters, Canada’s players were called up for national duty in the Netherlands last week.
Starved of international cricket, the fans came to see some of the world’s finest cricketers and they weren’t disappointed as they were entertained to some stirring batting, first-class bowling and excellent fielding. On Sunday in the finale the cheer leaders did their job to entertain the crowd and the sun burst through the clouds to make sure the six-team tournament ended on a high note.
Montreal Tigers topped the league, winning four of its seven matches and was expected to repeat as champion, but Toronto pulled off an eight-wicket victory in a one-sided encounter. Montreal managed 96 for nine in its 20 overs and Toronto blasted its way to 97 for two with 30 balls to spare.
Andries Gous, one of the stars of the U.S. team in last month’s World Twenty20 Cup, showed his class with the bat again as he slammed eight boundaries in his 49-ball innings. Gous received solid support from South Africa international Rassie van der Dussen who knocked 30 runs off 34 balls in this unbeaten third-wicket partnership after Toronto had slumped to 12 runs for two in the first two overs.
“Full credit to our boys,” said Toronto skipper Colin Munro, a New Zealand international. “You make the finals and then anything can happen. We came out and executed really, really well. The best team won.”
The damage was done by the tall Australian speedster Jason Behrendorff who took three wickets for just eight runs in his four overs and his fellow-opening partner Romario Shepherd of the West Indies weighed in with two for 20 off his four overs as Montreal struggled to 42 for seven with six of the batsmen falling for under 10 runs. South African Corbin Bosch breathed some life in the innings with 35 but that wasn’t enough. Behrendorff took man-of-the-match honours while Shepherd was named bowler of the tournament with his 14 scalps. Other honours were handed out to Scotland’s George Munsey who totalled 218 while Canada’s Dilpreet Bajwa garnered emerging-play-of-the-year honours for his cracking 100 for Montreal and a 206 total. Montreal missed his bat in the final as he was with the national squad in the Netherlands.
The controversy came up in the eliminator when Bangladesh ace Shakib Al Hasan, skipper of Bangla Tigers Mississauga, on orders from owner of the team Zaffir Yasins, did not attend the toss. Tigers argued that a five or 10-over contest should have been played instead of a super over and Yasins felt this would have been a fairer way to decide the winner under the circumstances. But Global T20 Canada tournament CEO Joy Bhattacharjya clarified that teams were aware of the rules and there were no last-minute changes made. “When Shakib Al Hasan refused to come out for the toss with the Toronto skipper the umpires used their discretion to advance Toronto.” But there is more to this controversy that seems to have overshadowed this competition. In a story by Anirudh Suresh for cricket.com, Bangla’s Yasins denies that the “super over in case of rain” was in the rule book at the beginning of the competition. “In the team manager’s meeting, on the very first day, they shared some rules and regulations which were set by GT20. In that they clearly mentioned that the GT20 will be following T20 International conditions. As per T20 conditions, there should at least be a five-over game, otherwise the game gets abandoned,” Yasin added.
“This rule was made one day before on WhatsApp,” said Yasin. “That’s a significant change in the playing conditions which should have been discussed with the technical committee, the owners and Cricket Canada because this is a whole different rule altogether.
“All the communication happened through WhatsApp, yes. But when we once raised a complaint regarding the tournament on that very WhatsApp group, we were told that the complaint was not official, and we had to email the committee.
“So, in that case, is it not hypocritical that you’re making a significant change to the playing conditions and you’re communicating it via WhatsApp?”
Yasin added Bangla Tigers have asked for financial compensation from the league.
CANADA LOSES AGAIN
Canada suffered its first two losses in five matches in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 play in the Netherlands.
Without a national coach and a stunning decision to bring in a new captain instead of Saad Bin Zafar, Canada was shot out for 194 and the Dutch reached their target in 46 overs thanks to Max O’Dowd hammering an unbeaten 79.
On Tuesday Canada fell by 14 runs to the United States. U.S. piled on 304 for four while Canada managed 290 for nine. U.S.A. 304 for four (Monank Patel 121 not out, Smit Patel 63, Shayan Jahangir 57 not out). Canada 290 for nine (Aaron Johnson 55, Pargat Singh 42, Harsh Thaker 77, Dilon Heyliger 56).
Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis.