Who is Nicholas Kirton? 3 interesting facts about Canada batter who scored 51 vs USA in T20 World Cup opener

The United States of America (USA) took on Canada in the opening encounter of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas on Saturday, June 1.

Canada batted first and put up a more than decent total of 194/5 on the board in their quota of 20 overs. Navneet Dhaliwal (61) and Nicholas Kirton (51) helped them put this score on the board.

In reply, the USA were able to coast comfortably to the target in just 17.4 overs, thanks largely to Aaron Jones' unbeaten 94 and Andries Gous' 65.

In this listicle, we take a look at three interesting facts about Kirton, whose half-century propped up the total for Canada in the first innings.

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#1 He is eligible to play both for the West Indies and Canada

Kirton was born in Barbados, which makes him eligible to get selected for the West Indies team in international cricket. However, his mother was born in Canada, which gives Kirton the eligibility to play for Canada in international cricket as well.

The southpaw has chosen to represent the latter and is a vital member of their squad for the ongoing T20 World Cup.

Before the 51 he scored against the USA, Kirton also scored 52 against Nepal in a warm-up game ahead of the tournament.

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#2 He has played in the CPL for Jamaica Tallawahs

Kirton in action for Canada.

Kirton has had the opportunity to play for the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League in 2020.

In fact, the 26-year-old regularly plays domestic cricket in the West Indies and turns up for the Barbados national team. He made his first-class debut in 2018-19 against Trinidad and Tobago in Tarouba.

Kirton made his List A debut a season prior to that for Canada against Oman in Windhoek, Namibia.

His T20 debut came in 2019 for Canada against Jersey at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi in a T20 World Cup Qualifier.

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#3 He made his ODI debut for Canada in 2023

As stated earlier, Kirton is eligible to play both for the West Indies and Canada in international cricket. Although he plays domestic cricket for Barbados in the West Indies, he has chosen to represent Canada at the international level. He made his ODI debut for them against Jersey in Windhoek, Namibia in 2023.

Kirton will hope that Canada are made a full member of the ICC soon so that he gets the opportunity to play Test cricket for them. Test cricket, as is known, is the pinnacle of the sport and a format that every aspiring cricketer wishes to play.