GT20 Canada will be witnessing the first double-header Matchday on “Canada Day” as Toronto Nationals take on Edmonton Royals and Montreal Tigers square up against Cricket West Indies “B” team in the 3rd and 4th match of the tournament.
While this will be the first time that everyone will get to see Edmonton Royals and CWI “B” team in action, Toronto Nationals and Montreal Tigers have already played their respective opening group stage games.
While Montreal Tigers will be boosted by the availability of Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane for the match, Toronto Nationals would look to continue their winning form in the tournament after a high scoring clash against Vancouver Knights in the opening game of GT20 Canada.
#BoomBoom @SAfridiOfficial has arrived in #Toronto #6sInThe6ix #GT20Canada pic.twitter.com/btscbVRfZg
— GT20 Canada (@GT20Canada) June 30, 2018
Edmonton Royals will bank on their global T20 stars in Shahid Afridi, Luke Ronchi, Wayne Parnell, Umar Akmal, Farhan Behardien, Andre Fletcher and Sohail Tanvir, while UAE players Ahmed Raza and Shaiman Anwar will be available for selection as well after reaching Canada after a slight VISA delay. Canadian players Abraash Khan and Sasimranjit Dhindsa will be expected to start in the first XI for the match.
Pakistan’s Hassan Khan too should be reaching Canada in time to be available for selection.
Enroute Canada. Really excited to play @GT20Canada Do pray for me and my team Edmonton Royals!
— Hassan Khan (@16hassankhan) June 28, 2018
Cricket West Indies “B” squad contain players, who have represented West Indies in ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Jan 2018 in New Zealand and in the CWI Regional 50-overs competition in Feb 2018.
The likes of Fabian Allen, Alick Athanaze, Anthony Bramble, Brandon King, Obed McCoy, Khary Pierre and Shamar Springer will be the ones to watch out for in the squad. The only player in the squad with International T20 Leagues experience (Caribbean Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Bangladesh Premier League Indian Premier League and Hong Kong T29 Blitz), Nicholas Pooran, will be banked upon heavily in the batting department.
Toronto Nationals vs Edmonton Royals (Players to watch out for): Steve Smith, Darren Sammy, Farhan Behardien, Shahid Afridi, Luke Ronchi, Ahmed Raza, Andre Fletcher, Anton Devcich, Nikhil Dutta, Rohan Mustafa, Satsimranjit Dhindsa, Mohammad Naveed & Nizakat Khan
Montreal Tigers vs CWI “B” Team (Players to watch out for): Moises Henriques, Sunil Narine, Alick Athanaze, Khary Pierre, Nicholas Pooran, Sikandar Raza, Dwayne Smith, George Worker, Sandeep Lamichhane, Shamar Springer, Fabian Allen, Lasith Malinga & Peter Siddle
Canada players Cecil Pervez and Dilon Heyliger could be in line to make their first appearance in the tournament as well for Montreal Tigers, if the management decides to give time to Sandeep to recover from his travel and get match ready.
