Adedokun Waliyu 
When the winning run was struck, Harsh Thacker made a small leap. But his overall performance on Saturday could give him a big leap in his career.
Thacker is one of several young Canadian players competing in Global T20 Canada. And while he was a spectator at the non-strike end when Fabian Allen completed the Vancouver Knights’ chase, he was the main reason his side beat the Mississauga Panthers by five wickets at TD Cricket Arena.
Thacker scored 75 runs off 54 balls, including nine boundaries, as Mississauga forced Vancouver to bat the entire 20 overs for the win. He also took a wicket and conceded just 24. With one of the primary goals of this tournament being to improve Canadian cricket, this performance will boost not only Thacker’s confidence but that of the national program.
“These moments will last with me forever,” Thacker said. “Performing like that in a big stage is huge. Cricket Canada has goals of making the T20 World Cup and hope to make the 50-overs World Cup.”
“Every game here, Canadians are doing well and I hope that continues because the national team also gets better.”
Thacker, 25, has been a member of the Canadian national team since 2019.
Thacker was helped in the Knights’ attack by Rassie van der Dussen, who scored 31, and Fakhar Zaman, who was out after 23. Parveen Kumar led the Mississauga bowling attack, taking two wickets.
The Panthers found themselves in big trouble early losing Tom Cooper on the first ball and four wickets in the first eight overs. But again rescuing their attack was Azam Khan. His 64, which came on the heels of a 65 on Thursday against Brampton, helped Mississauga to a total of 158/6. Khan was naturally putting team first when asked about his innings.
“It’s really hard to be happy on a personal level if the team is not winning,” he said.
Mississauga also got a good total from their marquee player, Chris Gayle. The West Indian legend made 61. Aside from Thacker’s bowling performance, Corbin Bosch also had a huge spell. The South African took two wickets, conceding 23.
In the afternoon’s other match, the Toronto Nationals gave the Brampton Wolves a scare, securing four wickets in the final four overs as the Wolves were on their way to a comfortable win. But a boundary by Jan Frylinck with two balls left in the innings was enough for Brampton to complete their chase with one wicket to spare.
That preserved a good spell with the ball for the Wolves. The Nationals got another solid innings from Canadian team member Nicholas Kirton, who made a half-century. Colin Munro made 24 and Hamza Tariq made 23. It looked like Tariq was ready to add to that until Chris Green made a fine reaching catch, one of two he took in the innings. Once he did, the Nationals offered very little. Pakistan legend Shahid Afridi was gone for 15.
Dutch international Logan van Beek took three wickets for the Wolves. Tim Southee and Shahid Ahmadzai had two each. Hussain Talat also took a wicket in holding Toronto to 142-8.
Talat survived the longest with the bat as the Nationals were able to take wickets at regular intervals. His 44 included two boundaries and two sixes. Canadian veteran Rizwan Cheema also performed well, making 35.
Zaman Khan took three wickets for the Nationals. Fareem Ashraf took two. But the match was nearly won by Afridi, who dismissed van Beek and Southee, both for zero runs.
“In the back end of the innings, even though we didn’t do a very good job, we bat to eleven,” Brampton coach Shane Bond said. “With the depth of our lineup, we can bat a little loosely,”
Action continues Sunday when the Panthers battle the Montreal Tigers while the Wolves face the Surrey Jaguars.
