GT20 Canada: Brampton Wolves defeat Edmonton Royals by 27 runs

Shahid Afridi led-Brampton Wolves defeated Edmonton Royals by 27 runs in the ongoing Global T20 Canada on Sunday (local time).

Chasing 208, openers Richie Berrington and Navneet Dhaliwal provided a steady start to the Royals as they put up 44 runs on the board, but Wahab Riaz cut short both Berrington (28) and Dhaliwal (15) innings as he sent them back to the pavilion, reducing the team to 46/2 in the fifth over.

The side kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and at one stage they found themselves at 94/5 in the 10th over. Mohammad Hafeez (5), Faf du Plessis (21), Ben Cutting (2) all failed to leave an impression.

Jimmy Neesham and Shadab Khan played useful knocks of 33 and 27 respectively, but it did not prove enough as the side lost the match by 27 runs.

Earlier, Shahid Afridi's knock of 81 runs off just 40 balls enabled Wolves to post 207 runs on the board, after opting to bat first.

Openers George Munsey and Lendl Simmons provided a steady start at the top as they were able to score 43 runs together, but their stand was cut short as Cutting sent Munsey (20) back to the pavilion in the fifth over.

Colin Munro (9) and Simmons (59) fell soon after, and the team was reduced to 97/3 in the 11th over. After Simmons' dismissal, Afridi came out to bat and he started hammering the bowlers from the very start.

He played an unbeaten knock of 81 runs, propelling the side past the 200-run mark.

Edmonton Royals will next face Montreal Tigers on July 31 whereas Brampton Wolves will take on Winnipeg Hawks on August 1.

Brief Scores: Brampton Wolves 207/5 (Shahid Afridi 81*, Lendl Simmons 59, Shadab Khan 3-34) defeat Edmonton Royals 180/9 (Jimmy Neesham 33, Richie Berrington 28, Zahoor Khan 3-21) by 27 runs.