Tournament back in full swing
West Indies team setting the bar, while Toronto needs its stars to shine
KING CITY— The second round of the Global T20 Canada cricket tournament gets underway Tuesday at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club, with a development side from the Caribbean leading the table ahead of teams featuring top cricket talent.
Here’s a look at the teams at the halfway point of the event:
CRICKET WEST INDIES B (4-1)
It appeared the other teams were caught napping by the young Caribbean side until Jamaican superstar Chris Gayle and the Vancouver Knights handed the young Windies their first loss of the tournament on Sunday. Led by upand-coming players Justin Greaves, Fabian Allen and Obed McCoy, the Windies were the first team to clinch a playoff spot at the tournament.
VANCOUVER KNIGHTS (3-1) One match cancelled
Gayle leads a Vancouver team which has a number of firstchoice West Indies T20 players, including the powerhouse allrounder Andre Russell as well as Hong Kong captain Babar Hayat. Holding Vancouver’s batting together has been South African pro Rassie van der Dussen.
EDMONTON ROYALS (2-2) One match cancelled
Edmonton’s strength is built around their bowling, with the Pakistani duo of swing-bowler Sohail Tanvir and the sevenfoot-two left-arm quick Mohammad Irfan starting off proceedings. The wily spin of former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi adds to the bowling depth. Afridi also showed off his booming bat in a three-ball, 13run cameo Sunday to help the Royals to a close win against Winnipeg.
WINNIPEG HAWKS (2-3)
Winnipeg have lost their cap- tain, Dwayne Bravo, who played three matches and then set off for England to play for Middlesex in the Twenty20 Cup. Bravo handed the captaincy over to David Warner, who was stripped of the Australian vicecaptaincy and suspended for his role in a ball-tampering controversy in March. Warner has had a shockingly poor tournament offensively, but Winnipeg is buoyed by having the tournament’s leading run-scorer Lendl Simmons (215 runs in his five matches). Winnipeg also has a potent fast bowling attack with former West Indies quick Fidel Edwards and American Ali Khan.
TORONTO NATIONALS (2-3)
Toronto boasts the biggest name in the league in former Australian captain Steve Smith, who is also serving a ban from international and domestic cricket due to the ball-tampering scandal. Smith has had a mixed tournament so far with two brilliant half centuries and three low scores. Darren Sammy, the man who led the West Indies to two World T20 titles, captains the Toronto side, which also has Kieron Pollard. Toronto-born Nitish Kumar has put up considerable numbers, including hammering 46 crucial runs off only 23 balls in Toronto’s win against Montreal on Sunday. The late addition of young spinner Usama Mir from Pakistan could make Toronto a tough side to contend with.
MONTREAL TIGERS (1-4)
Montreal is in last place despite the excellent play of Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga. The veteran fast-bowler is topping the bowling charts with 12 wickets in his five matches. The Royals kick off the second round against the Windies B squad.
The top four teams advance to the playoffs, which begin Thursday.