On Day 4 of the third Global T20 Canada tournament, the Montreal Tigers defeated the Mississauga Panthers by seven wickets in a thrilling match. The second match of the day, between the Brampton Wolves and the Surrey Jaguars, was called off due to rain.
By dismissing Tom Cooper (1) and “Universe Boss” Chris Gayle (1) cheaply in the first two overs of the game after choosing to field first, Montreal Tigers placed Mississauga Panthers on the back foot right away. However, Panthers’ innings was stabilized by the smart knocks of Azam Khan (26) and Navneet Dhaliwal (46). However, after the duo left the field, the club once more struggled to score runs and also lost their captain Shoaib Malik, who left after scoring only two runs.
Toward the end of the first inning,
James Neesham (54*) unleashed an unrelenting bombardment. The all-rounder scored an undefeated 50 to assist Mississauga Panthers in amassing a decent total of 140/6 in the stipulated 20 overs. In the meantime, the Montreal Tigers’ top bowler, Kaleem Sana, stood out after taking three wickets and allowing only eight runs in four overs.
Montreal Tigers, who were attempting to reach the 141-run target, lost Muhammad Waseem (4) in the second over of their innings, but the incoming hitter Shakib Al Hasan (36), who played aggressively from the get-go and blasted boundaries and sixes at will to assist his side break the 50-run threshold inside five overs, helped his team reach that milestone in just over five overs.
Chris Lynn also took a backseat to Shakib’s intriguing stroke-play in the early stages of the pursuit before unleashing some powerful blows of his own. Sherfane Rutherford smashed a thunderous 27 runs to lead their team home in just 15.5 overs and with seven wickets in hand after Shakib left the field. Lynn then anchored the innings with an unbeaten 64.
In the second game of the day, Surrey Jaguars chose to bat first and bowl first, reducing Brampton Wolves to 50/3 in 7.2 overs before rain ruined their plans and forced an early conclusion that left both teams with a point each.