Global T20 cricket tournament opens in Brampton with convincing win by Toronto Nationals

The Toronto Nationals opened the Global T20 cricket tournament in Brampton with style on Thursday, defeating the Vancouver Knights by eight wickets.

With a roster that includes Team Canada cricket Captain and Brampton’s Saad Bin Zafar, Toronto won the toss and elected to bat first. Set a victory total of 111, the Nationals cruised to the win reaching 111 for two with 32 balls remaining.

The six-team competition at the Brampton Sports Park also features the defending champion Montreal Tigers, Brampton Wolves, Surrey Jaguars and Bangla Tigers Mississauga.

Each team plays seven games with the top four sides moving on. No. 1 faces No. 2 with the winner advancing to the championship game. No. 3 takes on No. 4 with the winner taking on the loser of the No. 1 versus No. 2 match to determine the other finalist.

On Friday, it’s Bangla Tigers Mississauga versus the Montreal Tigers and Brampton Wolves against the Surrey Jaguars.

Former New Zealand international Colin Munro led the way for Toronto on Thursday with 44 runs off 39 balls, slamming three fours and three sixes. South African Rassie van der Dussen added 31 not out.

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Toronto stood at 36-0 after the powerplay, the first six overs when the fielding team is only allowed to position two players outside a 30-yard circle. In contrast, Vancouver was 23-1 after its first six overs.

Munro and fellow opener Unmukt Chund combined for 41 before Chund (23) exited lbw off a Sandeep Lamichhane delivery in the seventh over.

The Nationals were 65 for one after 10 overs. And they kept the scoreboard ticking with three sixes — two from Munro — and 20 runs in the 11th over off Lamichhane.

Munro was bowled by Paul van Meekeren in the 12th over, exiting at 44 with Toronto at 88 for two.

Vancouver started its innings slowly and was 44 for one after 10 overs.

Things changed quickly in the 11th over with Junaid Siddique taking the wickets of opener Reeza Hendricks (23), Harsh Thaker (zero), and Nitish Kumar (zero). Vancouver was 45 for four at the end of the over.

Canadian Nicholas Kirton made an outstanding fielding play to remove Dwaine Pretorius in the 17th over. A sliding Kirton got to the ball just in front of the boundary to prevent a four and then hit the stumps with a perfect thrown to run out the South African.

Muhammad Rohid took two wickets in the 19th over and Siddique dispatched van Meekeren with three balls remaining to end the Vancouver inning.

Hendricks and Munir Ahmad led Vancouver with 23 runs apiece.

Siddique, who plays for the United Arab Emirates, was named man of the match after taking four wickets at the expense of 25 runs.

A tournament spokesman said opening day attracted a crowd of 4,000-plus.

The fourth edition of the tournament runs through Aug. 11 with teams made up of domestic and international cricketers playing before a worldwide broadcast audience.

Vancouver won the tournament in 2018 and was runner-up to the Winnipeg Hawks in 2019. Montreal defeated the Surrey Jaguars in the 2023 final when the competition returned after the pandemic.