After confusion over which team would advance following the abandonment of the GT20 Canada's Eliminator on August 9, the league clarified that Toronto Nationals had been selected to go through after Bangla Tigers Mississauga refused to play a super over.
On Friday (August 9), both Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator were meant to take place in Brampton. However, persistent rain meant that no play was possible in either match, and both were called off even before the toss could be completed.
Qualifier 1 was between Brampton Wolves and Montreal Tigers. The 'tie-breaker' applied for qualification purposes was the league position of the teams. As a result, Montreal Tigers advanced to the final as table-toppers, while Brampton Wolves were deemed to play in Qualifier 2 on August 10, against the winner of the Eliminator.
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With the Eliminator also having been washed out, it was thought that the Bangla Tigers Mississauga would advance to Qualifier 2 over the Toronto Nationals as the sides had finished 3rd and 4th respectively in the league table.
However, confusion abounded for nearly 24 hours as reports claimed that the Nationals would be going through after the Bangla Tigers, led by Shakib Al Hasan, refused to play a super over.
Shakib Al Hasan's Bangla Tigers Mississauga refuse to play super over
On Sunday, the league issued a statement on the situation which read, "The eliminator match of GT20 Canada Season 4 between the Mississauga Bangla Tigers and the Toronto Nationals was delayed due to rain.
"After repeated inspections, the umpires along with the match referee decided, going by the tournament regulations, that a super over would be played between the two teams at 7:30 pm with the toss to be held at 7:10pm. At the time for the toss, the Toronto Nationals captain was present, but the Bangla Tigers team refused to appear.
"The match referee explained the plausible consequences of the said action to the captain and thereafter the umpire subsequently called off the match. Based on the report of the match referee, the Tournament Technical Committee unanimously decided to award the match to the Toronto Nationals who advanced to play the Brampton Wolves in the second qualifier."
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It is unclear at this point why Bangla Tigers refused to play the super over.
According to ICC regulations, a minimum of five overs for each side must take place to constitute a match, and a super over can only be played in the event of a tied game, not an abandoned one. However, this holds only for international T20 matches and individual franchise tournaments are free to implement their own regulations.
Qualifier 2 took place on August 10, and Toronto Nationals defeated Brampton Wolves by five wickets to make it to the final, which will take place on Sunday evening.
Image credit: X / @GT20Canada
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