GT20 Canada: Match 3, Toronto Nationals vs Edmonton Royals – Preview

Match details

Global T20 Canada 2019

Toronto Nationals vs Edmonton Royals

Venue: CAA Centre, Brampton, Ontario

July 27, 2019

Time: 10:00 PM IST

 

Squads

Toronto Nationals: Yuvraj Singh, Chirag Suri, Ravinderpal Singh, Salman Nazar, Rodrigo Thomas, Kieron Pollard, Calum MacLeod, Chris Green, Jasdeep Singh, Brendon McCullum, Heinrich Klaasen, Ghulam Shabber, Trent Boult, Manpreet Gony, Sandeep Lamichhane, Jeremy Gordon, Mark Montfort

Edmonton Royals: Kane Williamson, Faf du Plessis, Akash Gill, Sherfane Rutherford, James Neesham, Richie Berrington, Navneet Dhaliwal, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Anshuman Rath, Davy Jacobs, Safyaan Sharif, Ehsan Nawaz, Satsimranjit Dhindsa, Shahid Ahmadzai, Kyle Phillip

 

Team overview: The Toronto Nationals will take on the Edmonton Royals in the third match of the tournament on Saturday.

Toronto have assembled a strong squad this year which consists of big names like Brendon McCullum, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard and others. However, they began their campaign on a disappointing note as they lost their first match of the tournament by eight wickets to the Vancouver Knights. The likes of McCullum and Yuvraj failed big time as they scored 4 and 14 respectively. In fact, Yuvraj consumed 27 deliveries for those 14 runs. However, it was Heinrich Klaasen and Kieron Pollard, who scored 41 off 20 and 30 off 13 respectively to push their score to a competitive total of 159/5 somehow. But that wasn’t enough as the Knights chased it down in the 18th over riding on fifties from Chadwick Walton and Rassie van der Dussen. So, they have a lot of things to improve on both batting and bowling fronts as they looked rusty in both departments.

The Edmonton Royals, on the other hand, are yet to play a match in this tournament. The names that attract the most attention from their squad are that of Kane Williamson and Faf du Plessis. Both of them are highly experienced international players and have the experience of playing in the Indian T20 League as well. James Neesham, who shone during the World Cup with his all-round abilities, is another name to look forward to. Pakistani leg-spinner Shadab Khan is another player who makes their bowling department stand out as well.

Their squad looks well rounded. The batting department is balanced consisting of technically strong players like Williamson and du Plessis on one hand, and hard-hitters like Sherfane Rutherford, Neesham and Ben Cutting on the other hand. Scottish internationals Richie Berrington and Safyaan Sharif also add a lot of value to the squad. The spin department consisting of the likes of Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz looks good as well, and the Pacers look good enough to come up with an effective performance.

How did they perform last year?

 The Toronto Nationals had finished right at the bottom of the table last year with only two wins in their six matches. The Royals, on the other hand, had finished fourth with five points in six matches and had qualified for the playoffs as well. However, they were knocked out having lost their match to the Winnipeg Hawks in the playoffs.

Previous encounter

In the last edition, these two teams met during the league stage and the Royals had emerged victorious by eight wickets. Firstly, a clinical bowling performance saw them restricting Toronto to a total of 169/7. Then a fabulous batting performance by the likes of Luke Ronchi (47), Andre Fletcher (68*) and Agha Salman (38) helped them to chase down the total with five overs and eight wickets to spare.

What to expect in this match?

The Royals’ squad looks very strong and balanced on paper. They have the mental advantage as they had won this encounter last season as well. Toronto, on the other hand, have many things to sort out as was evident from their last match. So, a win for the Royals looks likely. Fore more online cricket news.

 

Written by: Prasenjit Dey