BRAMPTON: Matthew Forde’s four-fer helped Surrey Jaguars secure their place in the final of GT20 Canada, defeating Vancouver Knights by 38 runs in Qualifier 1.
Chasing a total of 140, Vancouver Knights succumbed to the brilliant seam bowling of Matthew Forde, losing star batter Mohammad Rizwan (4) and captain Rassie van der Dussen (6) in his first spell.
He later came back in the 17th over to put brakes to his fellow West Indian Fabian Allen’s attack and finally hit the last nail in the coffin with the final wicket of Junaid Siddique.
Vancouver Knights put Surrey Jaguars into bat after winning the toss. They started off well, with an early wicket of in-form Mohammad Haris, scoring 20 off 15.
The scorecard read 64-4 after 10 overs, however, captain Iftikhar Ahmed led the charge scoring 36 off 28. He was supported by Ayyan Khan on the other end with 29 off 20. Their 43 runs partnership, helped the team reach a respectable total of 139, as none of the batters after them managed to reach double figures.
Junaid Siddique returned with the figures of 4-22, while Ruben Trumpelmann and Karthik Meiyappan picked two wickets each.
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Knights’ chase began horribly as they lost their first wicket on the fourth ball of the innings and lost dangerman Rizwan one over later. They failed to recover from the early loss, and the wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Fabian Allen showed some resistance, but he did not get any support from the other end. Allen top scored with 27 off 20.
Matthew Forde led the charge for Jaguars but other bowlers also chipped with wickets, Dillon Heyliger picked two wickets while, Sandeep Lamichhane, Spencer Johnson, Ammar Khalid and Ayaan Khan contributed with a wicket each.
Jaguars have been a dominant force throughout the tournament, and haven’t lost a single game, since losing their first game of the tournament against Montreal Tigers. In the final, they will be facing the winner of the second Qualifier between Montreal Tigers and Vancouver Knights.
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