The Desert Vipers suffered their first setback of the season at the hands of the undefeated Gulf Giants.
Desert Vipers versus the Gulf Giants.
- Gulf Giants chased down Desert Vipers’ total of 195 for 4 with 3 balls to spare, negating Alex Hales’ 57-ball 99, to maintain their unbeaten run in the first ILT20. Chris Lynn (42 balls, 71 runs) and Shimron Hetmyer (35 balls, 70 runs) both made comfortable half century, as the team atop the table won by five wickets.
- After being sent into bat, the Vipers got off to a good start thanks to a 72-run partnership between Hales and Rohan Mustafa that lasted 6.4 overs. Although Colin Munro, who hit 39 off of 23 balls, and Hales kept the carnage going,
- Hales hit Chris Jordan hard in the first over of the game, smashing the pacer for three fours and a six. Even though Jordan was able to get the opener out (he was caught at deep cover just one run short of his century), he still gave up 45 runs in his four overs due to a late assault by Sherfane Rutherford. Rehan Ahmed, a leg-spinner, was the most expensive of the bunch, allowing 52 runs.
- As a result, Gulf Giants fell behind early and struggled to recover. Lynn attacked the Giants after they had already lost James Vince in the first over. Tom Curran and Wanindu Hasaranga sent back Tom Banton and Rehan Ahmed for little in the space of five balls. Lynn and Hetmyer combined to bring the Giants’ score back from 30 for 3 in 4.1 overs.
- Soon after Lynn was dropped on 23, Hetmyer got rolling by smashing Hasaranga for three consecutive sixes in the seventh over. Even when facing Ben Howell, the southpaw didn’t hold back, smashing him for two sixes in the ninth over to keep the Giants’ scoring rate even. Next, Lynn went after Hasaranga, hitting the spinner for two sixes and a boundary in a similar fashion. Together, they tacked on 117 runs in 9.2 overs.
- David Wiese (19 balls, 22 not out) and Liam Dawson (9 balls, 16 not out) saw the team across the finish line after they had both been dismissed within four overs.
- Quick Scores: Gulf Giants beat Desert Vipers 196/5 in 19.3 overs (Chris Lynn 71, Shimron Hetmyer 70; Sheldon Cottrell 2-24) after Desert Vipers scored 195/4 in 20 overs (Alex Hales 99, Colin Munro 39; Richard Gleeson 1-19).
MI Emirates take on the Dubai Capitals.
- MI Emirates lost their first game of the season, despite Kieron Pollard’s blistering 86 off of just 38 balls. Dubai Capitals won by 16 runs at Abu Dhabi.
- After being put into bat, the Capitals got off to a rousing start thanks to Joe Root and Robin Uthappa, who put up 78 runs for the first wicket. During his innings of 82 runs off 54 balls, the English batsman hit eight fours and three sixes. Root kept up the pressure alongside Rovman Powell, who struck 97 runs off 41 balls to win Player of the Match honours, after Uthappa was out for a somewhat slow 23-ball 26.
- Before Root was out caught by Zahoor Khan in the tenth and final over, he and the other batsman had put up 119 runs for the second wicket. The West Indian then hammered 20 runs off of Kieron Pollard’s final over to help his team reach 222.
- In reply, MI Emirates had trouble getting going, losing its top three batsmen cheaply and falling behind 26/3 by the end of the powerplay. For a while, Pollard and Andre Fletcher kept the innings steady, but by the conclusion of the eleventh over, they were still far behind the eight ball, scoring at less than a run per ball.
- After stumbling to 9 off of 16 balls, Fletcher finally got going in the 13th over by smashing Mujeeb ur Rahman for two sixes. At the end of the 15th over, Pollard, who had reached fifty off of 29 balls, went crazy, hauling Fred Klaasen for three consecutive sixes.
- Najibullah Zadran resumed his boundary barrage after Pollard’s dismissal, scoring 29 runs in the 18th over and 19 runs in the 20th over, both off Chamika Karunaratne, but it was not enough.