158/4 (19.4)
CR : 8.03
157/6 (20.0)
CR : 7.85
Gulf Giants won by 6 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Aayan Afzal Khan
3/17
GG won by 6 wickets
11:30 PM IST, 10:00 PM Local Time | Gulf Giants record a stunning victory on a difficult pitch to take home the points! They defeat the Sharjah Warriorz by 6 wickets to solidify their position at the top half of the table!
Gulf Giants won the toss and elected to bowl first! On a two-paced wicket, the Sharjah Warriorz battled hard for 18 overs to get to a par score, and only a late innings charge from Dwaine Pretorius (36 runs off 17 balls), along with Adil Rashid (12 runs off 6 balls), the Warriorz were able to establish a total of 157/6 from their 20 overs.
Aayan Khan was the pick of the bowlers for the Giants with 3/17 from his 4 overs. While Mark Adair chipped in with 2/22 from his 3 overs.
Come the chase, the opening duo of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and James Vince knew the importance of their partnership in this tricky chase, and they smashed the Warriorz all around the park to establish a quick partnership of 73 runs for the first wicket.
Raza drew first blood for the Warriors with the wicket of James Vince (35 runs off 28 balls). Rahmanullah Gurbaz carried on the mantle and scored a fine 50 runs off 36 balls to end up as the top scorer of his team. Adil Rashid got the wicket of Moeen Ali, and Raza followed it up with the crucial dismissal of Gurbaz to bring 2 new batters at the crease.
Things looked tricky for a while, but Azmatullah Omarzai and Gerhard Erasmus showed their class by stitching together an important partnership of 44 runs to bring their team to the brink of victory. Azmatullah Omarzai departed after sending Southee for a maximum in the final over for 28 runs off 21 balls.
Gerhard Erasmus stayed unbeaten at 15 runs off 18 balls, and Sean Dickson scored the final 3 runs to help the Gulf Giants cross the finish line.
Sikandar Raza picked up 2/20 but despite his best efforts, the victory went the way of the Gulf Giants!
Gulf Giants won the toss and elected to bowl first! On a two-paced wicket, the Sharjah Warriorz battled hard for 18 overs to get to a par score, and only a late innings charge from Dwaine Pretorius (36 runs off 17 balls), along with Adil Rashid (12 runs off 6 balls), the Warriorz were able to establish a total of 157/6 from their 20 overs.
Aayan Khan was the pick of the bowlers for the Giants with 3/17 from his 4 overs. While Mark Adair chipped in with 2/22 from his 3 overs.
Come the chase, the opening duo of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and James Vince knew the importance of their partnership in this tricky chase, and they smashed the Warriorz all around the park to establish a quick partnership of 73 runs for the first wicket.
Raza drew first blood for the Warriors with the wicket of James Vince (35 runs off 28 balls). Rahmanullah Gurbaz carried on the mantle and scored a fine 50 runs off 36 balls to end up as the top scorer of his team. Adil Rashid got the wicket of Moeen Ali, and Raza followed it up with the crucial dismissal of Gurbaz to bring 2 new batters at the crease.
Things looked tricky for a while, but Azmatullah Omarzai and Gerhard Erasmus showed their class by stitching together an important partnership of 44 runs to bring their team to the brink of victory. Azmatullah Omarzai departed after sending Southee for a maximum in the final over for 28 runs off 21 balls.
Gerhard Erasmus stayed unbeaten at 15 runs off 18 balls, and Sean Dickson scored the final 3 runs to help the Gulf Giants cross the finish line.
Sikandar Raza picked up 2/20 but despite his best efforts, the victory went the way of the Gulf Giants!
Time for post-match presentations...
Dispatch of the Day: Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Tim Southee (Sharjah Warriorz Captain): "We didn't want to lose three out of three. Hopefully, try to turn things around in a couple of days time. It's tough to bowl second due to the dew factor but still, we could have done things better. Spinners bowled well tonight. Tried to take the game deep in the second innings and then maybe turnaround things but unfortunately, things didn't go our way tonight."
James Vince (Gulf Giants Captain): "Winning the toss and bowling first, I felt the spinners were excellent in the middle. Good to see Aayan do well. As the innings went on, pace off was tricky to hit. They got 40-50 runs in the slog overs, which was a bit more.
We looked to get off to a decent start with the bat, it was tricky in the middle, but we managed to get over the line.. Even the seamers rolled their fingers down, and pace off was tricky to hit today. We were lucky to have quality spinners in Aayan, Moeen to help us restrict the Warriorz.
He will be okay for the next game. We'll leave it to the professionals, but hopefully, he'll be back in the next game. It is 3 from 4; we are playing some decent cricket. Big game coming up against the Vipers, hopefully we win there. I'm feeling better now."
We looked to get off to a decent start with the bat, it was tricky in the middle, but we managed to get over the line.. Even the seamers rolled their fingers down, and pace off was tricky to hit today. We were lucky to have quality spinners in Aayan, Moeen to help us restrict the Warriorz.
He will be okay for the next game. We'll leave it to the professionals, but hopefully, he'll be back in the next game. It is 3 from 4; we are playing some decent cricket. Big game coming up against the Vipers, hopefully we win there. I'm feeling better now."
Player of the Match (POTM): Aayan Afzal Khan
Aayan Afzal Khan (Gulf Giants and POTM): "I got the chance tonight. It was so good to bowl all four overs. It was a good wicket for spinners as it was turning. This match has been so good for me. I have taken wickets as well. Very nice feeling. The team has been very friendly to me. Nice to play for them."
That's it from this match, folks! A crucial victory for the Gulf Giants! Join us back tomorrow as we continue to bring you all the LIVE action from around the world!
Until then, this is Anirudh Modi, signing off along with my colleagues Mohammad Anab, Dev Rajawat, and Yogesh Kumar! See you at the next one.
Until then, this is Anirudh Modi, signing off along with my colleagues Mohammad Anab, Dev Rajawat, and Yogesh Kumar! See you at the next one.