Global T20 Canada fixture delayed due to a bomb threat

A strange incident took place during the second match of the Global T20 Canada between Montreal Tigers and Winnipeg Hawks. The start of this game was delayed by about 90 minutes resulting in the game being reduced to 12-overs per team. “Play has been delayed due to some technical reasons,” the organisers of the T20 league tweeted 20 minutes after the scheduled start of play.

On the other hand, the official broadcaster of the Global T20 Canada shared that the play was delayed due to ‘security issues’. However, there hasn’t been much clarity about the actual reason for this delay. Since then, there have been various speculations but it is now concluded that the start was delayed due to a ‘bomb threat’.

A suspicious package left unattended at the venue

Fans, who were standing in long queues outside the CAA Centre in Brampton, Ontario weren’t allowed to enter the ground. As per the reports from ESPNCricinfo, they contacted a few players to know the reason behind the delay. It was learnt that a suspicious package was left unattended at the venue. Immediately, the police closed the venue for inspection and even deployed bomb-sniffing dogs.

“Routine sniffer dogs checks found a substance that alerted security,” one player told ESPNcricinfo. Moreover, another source revealed that a hole was found in a temporarily constructed perimeter fence that surrounds the cricket portion of the facility. Thus, this raised an alarm and the local police took some preventive measures.

After this package was deemed not dangerous, the players were allowed to enter the ground and begin their warm-ups. Later, the reduced match was played without any further interruptions. Montreal Tigers were put in to bat first in this match. Courtesy a 30-ball 59 from Sunil Narine and an unbeaten 23-ball 40 from Anton Devcich helped the team get to 135/3 in 12 overs.

The Winnipeg Hawks failed to reach the target in the chase. Umar Akmal and JP Duminy were the only two batsmen who played well. They scored 49 off 30 and 30 off 14 respectively. However, the other batsmen tried to go hard and lost their wickets in the process. The side could only get to 111/5 and lost the game by 24 runs.