Global T20 Canada, Edmonton Royals vs Winnipeg Hawks, 18th Match, Round 2: 5 Talking Points

David Warner’s 42 along with a few other contributions and Fidel Edwards’ four-fer in a good team bowling effort helped the Winnipeg Hawks to register their first win over Edmonton Royals.

After Warner won the toss, it was no surprise that he opted to bowl first. Agha Salman (43) and Abraash Khan (30) were the only batsmen to get past the 30-run mark. A crumbling and stumbling middle-order crawled its way to 141. Fidel Edwards picked up four wickets while Hiral Patel and Lendl Simmons took two apiece.

Chasing 142, the Hawks did get off to a good start before Lendl Simmons was hit on the glove before he went off the field. David Warner finally came good as he scored 42 and Mark Deyal played a good 19-ball cameo to finish things off.

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#5 Fidel Edwards continues his good run

Fidel Edwards has played 4 games so far in this Global T20 Canada and has bowled with great intent. He’s bowled fast and fiery spells and has rattled a few batsmen.

After picking up 5 wickets in the 3 previous games, Edwards returned with figures 4/19 in 3.5 overs. He was hit for a four on the first delivery of his spell but he came back strongly as he got rid of the in-form Luke Ronchi as he bounced him out. However, Edwards did go for 14 runs in his first over as he conceded a couple more boundaries.

But he then came back and bowled three excellent overs. He conceded just 5 runs and took 3 wickets. The 36-year-old pacer bowled fast and troubled most of the batsmen and finished with a four-fer.

#4 Lendl Simmons has a field day

Simmons was handy with both bat and ball

Lendl Simmons has bowled a total of 370 deliveries in his 210-match T20 career. But in this game, he bowled 3 overs and picked up two big wickets. After conceding 8 runs in his first over, Simmons dismissed Kevin O Brien as the latter tried to loft one over long-on and found David Warner. In his next over, he then got the prized wicket of Shahid Afridi to finish with figures of 2/18 in 3 overs.

Meanwhile, his form with the bat continued as he struck a fluent 23-ball 38 before retiring hurt. But he gave the Hawks the start they wanted. Simmons struck 2 fours and a six and 3 consecutive fours in back-to-back overs to give WPH some momentum in the powerplay.

However, Simmons’ excellent day on the field didn’t end on a good note as he was wrapped on the fingers by a rising delivery from Mohammad Irfan. He was in quite a bit of pain and eventually walked off, retiring hurt.

#3 The Royals middle-order crumbles

A disappointing performance by the Royals

After Luke Ronchi’s brisk 15, Agha Salman (43) and Abraash Khan (20) built a 62-run stand for the second wicket. And once this partnership was broken, the innings went only in one direction. The Royals lost their last 9 wickets for 64 runs and eventually ended up with a below-par total of 141.

7 Royals batsmen were dismissed for single-digit scores. The slide never seemed to arrest once it started. Farhaan Behardien, Kevin O Brien, Shahid Afridi and Sohail Tanvir failed to stand up take responsibility and deliver. During large parts of the back 10 overs, Royals lost wickets at continuous intervals.

The continuous fall of wickets eventually ended up in the Tigers posting just 141 in their 20 overs.

#2 David Warner finally hits form

Warner is on his road to recovery

David Warner just hasn’t been able to score runs this season. He scored just 12 runs in 5 innings (before this game). With him being out of form, he was somehow finding ways to get out.

But in this game, he took his time, assessed the conditions and then played second fiddle. He was largely rotating strike and when the opportunity arose, the former Australian vice-captain pounced on it.

He hit 6 fours and 1 six in his 35-ball stay as he scored a patient, hard-working 42. He drove the ball well, cut and pulled decently and scored a very good 42 in this game. Hence, Warner put behind him a string of 5 successive low-scores.

#1 Hawks ease through the chase to finish 3rd on the points table

Chasing 142, Lendl Simmons and David Warner gave a good account of themselves as they helped WPH get off to a flying start. Fidel Edwards got the early breakthrough and even after Simmons left (or retired hurt), the carnage didn’t stop. Simmons scored 38 while Warner made 42

Ben McDermott walked in at 3 (scored a run-a-ball 18) and kept rotating the strike with an odd boundary between her and three. Mark Deyal then calmly walked in and kept hitting to all parts of the ground. He struck a very good 19-ball 37 which consists of 6 fours and 1 six.

The Hawks haven’t had a consistent season. They never won two successive games and the David Warner-led side will be eager to get rid of these their inconsistency. But for now, they have qualified and will now play the same team Edmonton Royals in the second playoff.