Brampton Wolves vs Vancouver Knights, Global T20 Canada Qualifier 1: Preview, predictions, likely XIs

The league done and dusted, the 2019 Global Canada T20 League finally moves to the Playoffs. League toppers Brampton Wolves, who are hosting all matches of the edition, will take on defending champions Vancouver Knights in Qualifier 1. While the winner will go on to the final, the defeated side will get another chance, in Qualifier 2.

Brampton had won their first four matches convincingly before losing to Vancouver in their last Round 1 league match, by 8 wickets. However, their first four wins were enough to ensure them a spot in Qualifier 1, which meant that having to share points following a rain-washed match against Edmonton Royals did them no harm.

Vancouver’s only defeat, by 7 wickets, came against Winnipeg Hawks. They had to share points twice, of which the one against Montreal Tigers must have hurt, for Vancouver had put up 276/3.

Vancouver will miss the services of Chris Gayle, who has been summoned by the West Indian national team. However, a middle order boasting of Andre Russell, Shoaib Malik, and Chadwick Walton is always intimidating, as is their low-profile but efficient band of seamers, consisting of Ali Khan, Daniel Sams, and Hayden Walsh.

Brampton, on the other hand, boast of Ish Sodhi, at this point the highest wicket-taker of the tournament. Expect Wahab Riaz and Shahid Afridi to assist Sodhi. With bat Lendl Simmons, George Munsey, Babar Hayat, Colin Munro – and, of course, Afridi, are a formidable unit.

Head to head

The teams have met only once – Brampton had not played the previous edition – in the last match of the league phase, in what resulted in Brampton’s only defeat in this edition till now.

Sams (4/25) and Walsh (3/29) restricted Brampton to 138 before Chadwick Walton (53*) and Shoaib Malik (41*) added an unbroken 100 runs to guide Vancouver to a win.

Key players

Lendl Simmons (Brampton Wolves): All eyes will be on Afridi, but Simmons’ solid presence at the top cannot be ignored. With 167 runs at a strike rate of 158, Simmons has been their most consistent batsman; as a wicketkeeper also allows Brampton the flexibility to pick an extra bowler or batsman.

Hayden Walsh (Vancouver Knights): Walsh has had an impressive career in CPL as well as for the USA, and is set out to replicate that here. He took 3/29 to help Vancouver beat Brampton in the league match, while his other match had yielded figures of 2/20.

Likely XIs

Brampton Wolves: Lendl Simmons (wk), George Munsey, Colin Munro (c), Nitish Kumar, Shahid Afridi, Babar Hayat, Abraash Khan, Nawab Singh, Ish Sodhi, Wahab Riaz, Cecil Pervez.

Vancouver Knights: Tobias Visee (wk), Rizwan Cheema, Chadwick Walton, Shoaib Malik, Andre Russell, Daniel Sams, Michael Rippon, Ali Khan, Saad Bin Zafar, Rayyan Pathan, Hayden Walsh.

Prediction

Brampton to win and qualify for the final.