BRAMPTON: Nicholas Kirton’s gutsy 74-run went in vain as Ali Khan displayed nerves of steel in the final over to steer Bangla Tigers Mississauga to a narrow two-run victory over Toronto Nationals in the eighth match of the GT20 Canada 2024.
Ali was tasked to defend 18 runs in the final over and the right-arm pacer just managed to keep the Nationals at bay despite bowling a no-ball that went for a four.
The Nationals, while chasing 169, could amass 166/7 in the allotted overs despite Kirton’s grit.
Toronto Nationals had a dismal start to the pursuit as they were reduced to 38/3 at the conclusion of the batting powerplay.
Following the slump, Nicholas Kirton took the reigns of the Nationals’ run chase.
The left-handed batter knitted a one-sided 66-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Roston Chase, who made a 16-ball 17 before perishing in the 13th over.
The Nationals then sustained another blow to their pursuit when all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz (1) fell victim to his compatriot Iftikhar Ahmed in the 15th over.
Kirton was then involved in a crucial 44-run partnership with Romario Shepherd before finally perishing in the penultimate over.
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The Canada international remained the top-scorer for the Nationals with a 54-ball 74 which featured seven fours and four sixes.
For the Tigers, Ali Khan led the way with two wickets while Iftikhar Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan, Shoriful Islam and David Wiese chipped in with a wicket apiece.
After being put into bat first, the Tigers registered 168/7 on the board, courtesy of late fireworks by Wiese.
The veteran all-rounder bolstered the Tigers’ total with a brisk 38. His unbeaten cameo, coming off just 17 balls, featured three fours and as many sixes.
Besides him, Muhammad Waseem (27), Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Shakib, 24 each, were the other notable run-getters for the Tigers.
Romario Shepherd and Saad Bin Zafar claimed two wickets each for the Nationals Muhammad Rohid, Nawaz and Junaid Siddique made one scalp each.
Despite the two-run victory, Bangla Tigers Mississauga remained third in the GT20 Canada 2024 standings with four points in three matches while Toronto Nationals clung on to the second spot with as many points in four matches.
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