Global T20 Canada, Final- Review: Vancouver Knights hold onto their nerve in a low-scoring final

After entertaining us with some breathtaking action, nail-biting games, the Global T20 Canada has finally come to an end. The Vancouver Knights have triumphed in the first edition of the tournament. In a low-scoring final, they’ve won the game against Cricket West Indies-B to emerge as the champions.

Cricket West Indies-B played some great cricket throughout the tournament. The team won four out of six games played in the league stages of the tournament. They also defeated Vancouver Knights in the ‘Qualifier-1’. However, they failed to replicate the same kind of success in the final.

Vancouver Knights, on the other hand, finished the league stages on the top of the points table. After they were defeated in ‘Qualifier-1’, they came back strong and won both the ‘Eliminator’ as well as the ‘Final’ to emerge as the champions. Here is how the final of the tournament progressed.

Sheldon Cottrell wreaks havoc as CWI-B put up a below par total

It was quite disappointing that CWI-B failed to utilise their quota of 20 overs in the big final. Sheldon Cottrell bowled brilliantly and cleaned up both the openers early. Soon, Saad Bin Zafar dismissed Brandon King who was in good touch. The CWI-B was down to 30/3 within the fourth over. The onus was yet again on Sherfane Rutherford and Nicolas Pooran to bail them out of trouble. Both of them were brilliant in the last game.

But, unfortunately, Rutherford fell to Steven Jacobs after scoring 14 runs off 8 balls. Soon, Pooran was also dismissed by Fawad Ahmed. The side was down to 87/6 in the 12th over and it didn’t seem as if they could get past 120 or 130. If it was not for a 23-ball from Fabian Allen, the team would have ended up with a much lower score. They were bowled out for 145 runs in 17.4 overs.

Canadian batsman Zafar stars in the big win

It was not Chadwick Walton or Chris Gayle or Andre Russell who were the stars in this famous win. Walton who was in great form was dismissed just for 4 runs. Skipper Chris Gayle was also dismissed for just 2 runs. Derval Green also dismissed Ben Duck for 11 runs. The side was down to 22/3 and there was immense pressure on the other batsmen.

However, Saad Bin Zafar, who is a Pakistan-born Canadian bowler was promoted up the order. He along with Rassie van der Dussen built a wonderful partnership. While Zafar scored 79 off 48 balls, Dussen scored 44 off 41 balls. These two added 126 runs for the fifth wicket and the services of Andre Russell and Babar Hayat was not even required with the bat. They won the game with 15 balls to spare to lift the glorious trophy.

Brief Scores:

CWI-B: 145/10 in 17.4 overs (F Allen 41, Justin Greaves 16, Sheldon Cottrell 4/29)

VCK: 148/3 in 17.3 overs (S Zafar 79*, Dussen 44*, Derval Green 2/20)

Vancouver Knights won by 7 wickets.

Man of the Match: Saad Bin Zafar

Player of the tournament: Lendl Simmons