Toronto Nationals skipper Yuvraj Singh had a forgettable opening match in the first season of Global Canada T20 on Thursday. The former India cricketer struggled with lower back pain before being dismissed in bizarre fashion.

Chris Gayle-led Vancouver Knights registered a comfortable eight-wicket victory to get on the board with two points in the six-team tournament.

Asked to bat first, Toronto could manage just 159/5 in their 20 overs with opener Rodrigo Thomas and wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen scoring 41 runs each. Brendon McCullum failed to fire at the top of the order but they got a late flourish thanks to a 13-ball 30 by West Indies’ Kieron Pollard.

Yuvraj, batting at his preferred No 4 position, scored just 14 runs off 27 balls as he looked in discomfort due to his back. While his stay at the crease lacked any sort of fluency, his dismissal was even stranger. In fact, he wasn’t really out.

The 37-year-old missed the ball after attempting a slog off medium-pacer Rizwan Cheema, before the ball bounced off the wicketkeeper and hit the stumps. Singh walked off thinking he was out stumped but his leg was well inside. Worst of all, even the umpires didn’t notice what had happened and didn’t reverse the decision.

In reply, Vancouver captain Gayle could manage just 12 off 10. But Chadwick Walton (59 off 35) Rassie van der Dussen (65 off 43) build an unbeaten 126-run partnership for the third wicket to take their team to 162/2 in 17.2 overs.

Toronto will now face Edmonton Royals in the third match of the tournament on Saturday, while Vancouver take on Winnipeg Hawks on Sunday.