KING CITY, Ont. — 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 up-and-coming players Justin Greaves, Fabian Allen and Obed McCoy, the Windies were the first team to clinch a playoff spot at the tournament.
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VANCOUVER KNIGHTS (3-1, one match cancelled) — Gayle leads a Vancouver team which has a number of first-choice West Indies T20 players, including the powerhouse all-rounder Andre Russell as well as Hong Kong captain Babar Hayat. Holding Vancouver's batting together has been South African pro Rassie van der Dussen, who has been in good touch throughout the tournament.
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EDMONTON ROYALS (2-2, one match cancelled) — Edmonton's strength is built around its bowling, with the Pakistani duo of swing-bowler Sohail Tanvir and the seven-foot-two left-arm quick Mohammad Irfan starting off proceedings. The wily spin of former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi adds to the bowling depth. As good as he's been with the ball in his career, Afridi showed off his booming bat in a three-ball, 13 run cameo Sunday to help the Royals to a close win over Winnipeg.
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WINNIPEG HAWKS (2-3) — Winnipeg has lost its captain the globe-trotting star, 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 vice-captaincy and suspended for his role in a ball-tampering controversy between Australia and South Africa in March of this year. Warner has had a shockingly poor tournament offensively, but Winnipeg is buoyed by having the tournament's leading run-scorer Lendl Simmons. The West Indies star has compiled 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.
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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 over Montreal on Sunday. The late addition of young spinner Usama Mir from Pakistan could make Toronto a tough side to contend with.
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MONTREAL TIGERS (1-4) — Montreal is at the bottom of the table 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 Tigers kick off the second round against the Windies B squad, and a win could put Montreal back into contention.
The top four teams will advance to the playoffs, which begin Thursday.
Faraz Sarwat , The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version mispelled Darren Sammy's first name and had the wrong name of Montreal's team.