Toronto Nationals vs Winnipeg Hawks, Global T20 Canada 2019, Match 7: Preview, predictions, likely XIs

Winnipeg Hawks, placed second in the league, will play third-ranked Toronto Nationals in Match 7 of Global T20 Canada 2019. Given that both are a solitary win behind top-ranked – and hosts – Brampton Wolves, a win may help either side to top the table.

After being swept aside in the tournament opener by defending champions Vancouver Wolves, Toronto recovered well to beat Edmonton Royals, thanks to Salman Nazar and Chris Green’s probing spells, a 56-run stand between Heinrich Klaasen and Yuvraj Singh, followed by an exhibition of big hitting from Manpreet Gony.

With Kieron Pollard and Rodrigo Thomas having played crucial cameos and Salman Nazar turning out to be an unexpected success with ball, Toronto seem to be on track for a win.

Winnipeg, too, recovered from a defeat against Montreal Tigers to chase down 209 against Vancouver Knights inside 16 overs. The stars of the chase were JP Duminy (the highest scorer of the tournament at this point), Chris Lynn, and Dwayne Bravo.

Head to head

Winnipeg have won the only match between the two teams, in the previous edition, thanks to Fidel Edwards’ 4/22.

Key players

Salman Nazar (Toronto Nationals): With 4-0-24-1 in a high-scoring match, left-arm spinner Nazar was the star for Toronto against Edmonton. He is also their most economical bowler in the tournament till now.

JP Duminy (Winnipeg Hawks): With scores of 30 and 77* and a combined strike rate of 206, Duminy is currently the highest scorer of Global T20 Canada 2019. Winnipeg boasts of several big hitters, but Duminy is the likeliest to score big.

Likely XIs

Toronto Nationals: Rodrigo Thomas, Calum MacLeod, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Yuvraj Singh (c), Kieron Pollard, Chris Green, Ravinderpal Singh, Manpreet Gony, Mark Montfort, Salman Nazar.

Edmonton Royals: Shaiman Anwar, Chris Lynn, Umar Akmal, JP Duminy, Dwayne Bravo, Paul van Meekeren, Rayad Emrit (c), Sunny Sohal, Hamza Tariq (wk), Kaleem Sana, Umair Ghani.

Prediction

Winnipeg hold a slight edge.