Vancouver Knights vs Winnipeg Hawks, Global Canada T20 League, Match 5: Preview, predictions, likely XIs

The defending champions Vancouver Knights will take on Winnipeg Hawks on July 28 in Match 5 of Global T20 Canada 2019 at Brampton.

Vancouver Knights started their campaign with a comfortable victory against Toronto Nationals in their first fixture. Rassie van der Dussen continued his good form to secure a convincing eight-wicket win for the Knights. Chadwick Walton also scored an unbeaten half-century and accompanied van der Dussen to chase down 160 in just 17.2 overs. The good part is that the top order looked in good touch although the openers could not manage to score big ones. They will try to make it to two wins to continue their title defence uninterrupted. Eyes will be on Andre Russell who did not get the opportunity to perform in the last match and can be dangerous with both bat and ball.

Winnipeg Hawks, on the contrary, had a massacre as they lost three wickets for just 17 runs. It was a 12-over game against Montreal Tigers which saw Winnipeg reaching 111/5 while chasing 135. JP Duminy (30 off 14) and Umar Akmal (49 off 30) did give some hope initially but the Hawks failed to capitalize. From the bowling department, it was only Dwayne Bravo who showed some promise. This will be a tough match for the Hawks but one failure cannot be a tournament decider. A comeback is highly achievable.

Head to head- They met twice in the inaugural edition and Vancouver Knights won both matches.

Key players:

Rassie van der Dussen (Vancouver Knights)– Rassie van der Dussen scored 65* from 43 balls to lead the chase for the Knights in the first fixture. As the team lost two quick wickets the team required a good partnership and that is what van der Dussen and Walton concentrated on. van der Dussen took the major role and continued to showcase his brilliance post the World Cup. In his last four innings, van der Dussen registered three 60+ scores. His form can be the game changer for the Knights.

Dwayne Bravo (Winnipeg Hawks)- While every bowler from the Hawks conceded runs above 10 per over at least, Bravo was the only consistent one who took one wicket for 16 runs in three overs. He was the single bowler from the squad who was able to bowl tightly against the rampage. Some quick runs from the bat and his all-around skill will be a major weapon for his team for the matches ahead.

Likely XIs:

Vancouver Knights- Chris Gayle (c), Tim Visee (wk), Chadwick Walton, Rassie van der Dussen, JJ Smit, Rizwan Cheema, Andre Russell, Michael Rippon, Saad Bin Zafar, Andile Phehlukwayo, Ali Khan

Winnipeg Hawks- Dwayne Smith, Umar Akmal, JP Duminy, Dwayne Bravo, Shaiman Anwar, Hamza Tariq (wk), Rayad Emrit (c), Sunny Sohal, Paul van Meekeren, Kaleem Sana, Umair Ghani

Prediction: The knights to win.