BRAMPTON, Ont. – Guyana all-rounder Romario Shepherd took four wickets and then hit back-to-back fours to lead the Toronto Nationals into the final of the Global T20 cricket tournament with a five-wicket win Saturday over the Brampton Wolves.
Toronto will face the defending champion Montreal Tigers in Sunday’s championship game at the CAA Centre.
There was controversy off the pitch with the Bangla Tigers Mississauga exiting after refusing to play a rain-shortened elimination match Friday.
Montreal was slated to play Brampton on Friday in a battle of the tournament’s top two teams, with the winner moving directly into Sunday’s final and the loser facing either No. 3 Bangla Tigers Mississauga or No. 4 Toronto Nationals, who were slated to meet Friday in an elimination game, on Saturday to decide the second finalist.
The Montreal-Brampton game was washed out and the Mississauga-Toronto elimination game was delayed due to rain.
After several pitch inspections, the umpires and match referee decided that a “super over” would be played at 7:30 p.m. local time to decide the elimination game. Toronto Nationals captain Colin Munro was present for the subsequent coin toss but Bangla Tigers Mississauga skipper Shakib Al Hasan, apparently unhappy at the decision, opted not to attend.
“The match referee explained the plausible consequences of the said action to the captain and thereafter the umpire subsequently called off the match,” tournament organizers said in a statement Saturday.
“Based on the report of the match referee, the tournament technical committee unanimously decided to award the match to the Toronto Nationals who advanced to play the Brampton Wolves in the second qualifier.”
Montreal, on the basis of its position atop the standings, moved into Sunday’s final while Toronto took on Brampton to determine the Tigers’ opponent
Toronto won the toss Saturday and elected to field.
Brampton lost openers Kobe Heft for one and David Warner for 14. But Nick Hobson rescued the inning with a knock of 51 not out that featured five fours and two sixes. George Munsey added 26 as Brampton finished at 141 for eight in its 20 overs.
Shepherd was the best of the Toronto bowlers attack with four wickets at the expense of 32 runs.
Munro led Toronto with 36 runs as the Nationals started well, finishing the six-over powerplay at 63 for one. They reached the victory total with 10 balls to spare, thanks to Shepherd’s back-to-back boundaries, finishing at 143 for five.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2024
