David Warner and Steve Smith are serving a 12 month ban handed down by Cricket Australia for their participation in the horrendous ball tampering incident during the third test against South Africa in Cape Town in March earlier this year. Both players had a long break from cricket as BCCI disallowed them from playing in the IPL as well. They finally got an opportunity to be back on the field at the Canada T20 league.
The former Australian captain and vice-captain played against each other on Monday in Canada’s Global Twenty20 cricket tournament. Warner’s side defeated the Toronto Nationals but he could not contribute much as he was run out by Anton Devcich on the score of one run facing just two balls.
Steve Smith had an even worse outing as he bowled two overs conceding 34 runs and with the bat in hand he manged just three runs in 10 balls chasing a target of 165. His team was all out on 108 and fell short by 56 runs. Smith made 61 in his first outing for the Nationals but since then he has struggled.
Also read: David Warner’s return not as good as Steve Smith
David Warner has managed just six runs in his three innings which is highly unlikely for a talented player like him. Though his team has got it covered till now they will need him to fire at some point of time. After Warner’s dismissal on Sunday, Lendl Simmons made 44 from 34 balls and captain Dwayne Bravo made 41 from 31 balls to guide Winnipeg to 164.
In reply, New Zealand’s Anton Devcich scored 34 from 19 balls and Kieron Pollard made 25 from 34 but that wasn’t enough as Tion Webster took 4-22 from 2.2 overs to restrict the opposition. Dwayne Bravo and Fidel Edwards chipped in with two wickets each as Toronto Nationals were outplayed in just 17.2 overs losing all their wickets.
West Indies B and Winnipeg lead the league with two wins each, though Winnipeg have one more game in their kitty.