Gulf Giants enjoy six-wicket win over Sharjah Warriorz

Tom Alsop played a blinder as he struck an unbeaten 85 to propel the Gulf Giants to a marvelous six-wicket win against the Sharjah Warriorz in the DP World ILT20 Season 3 clash at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday evening.

Alsop was the architect of the Gulf Giants’ chance as he held his bat to see through the win alongside Tom Curran as the two Englishmen put up a match-winning stand of 65 for their second win on the trot.

Chasing 172 was always going to be tricky, but Alsop and James Vince did splendidly well to get the Gulf Giants going. The duo hit six fours between them in the first three overs to make their intentions clear, but their impressive partnership of 42 was cut short by Dilshan Madushanka when Vince was undone by a short ball. Alsop was joined by Jordan Cox in the middle and they put up 22 for the second wicket before Cox was dismissed. Alsop, though, was unperturbed on the other end as he played one of the best innings of his career.

He took the bowlers to the cleaners as the Gulf Giants racked up 88 runs in the first 10 overs, well-poised to chase down the target. Alsop brought up his first fifty in the DP World ILT20 off 44 balls and with the pressure rising, his calm head prevailed as he steered his side closer to the target. 

Gerhard Erasmus (10) and Shimron Hetmyer (12) fell without troubling the scorers much and that threatened to derail the Gulf Giants’ chase, but the 16th over swiftly swung the momentum in their favour. Curran chipped in with a couple of boundaries and Alsop dispatched one into the stands as Madushanka conceded 18 and the Gulf Giants needed 40 off 24.

Alsop and Curran were not to be stopped, playing sensible cricket to get the job done. They picked on Adam Milne in the 18th over and hit him for 16 runs, as they raced closer to the target. Alsop brought his A-Game to the fore to hit an unbeaten 85 as the Gulf Giants sealed a comprehensive victory in Sharjah.

Earlier, the Gulf Giants won the toss and opted to bowl. Johnson Charles and Tom Kohler-Cadmore got the Sharjah Warriorz off to a flyer as they stitched together a solid opening partnership that laid the foundation for their innings. Kohler-Cadmore did the bulk of the scoring early on, but once Charles got going, it was hard to stop him.  He hit Daniel Worrall for 18 runs before falling on the final ball of the sixth over for 30 off 19. 

The Warriorz amassed 57 in the powerplay and looked well-placed to hit that 200-run mark but a middle-order slump saw their run rate drop drastically. Blessing Muzarabani struck in the eighth over to get Kohler-Cadmore for 29 before Avishka Fernando was sent back for six in the next over. From a commanding position, the Sharjah Warriorz were now reeling at 79/3 at the halfway mark.

Jason Roy’s arrival offered the Sharjah Warriorz some much-needed stability as he kept the scoreboard ticking. The Englishman struck Curran for three boundaries as he lifted his side to 140-4 with three overs remaining. The game turned on its head in Muzarabani’s 18th over when he conceded a six off his first ball but regrouped well to pick up two wickets, including the prized wicket of Roy for 44. Ashton Agar clobbered a flurry of boundaries at the death to help the Sharjah Warriorz to a solid total of 171, which was later successfully chased down by the Gulf Giants.

Meanwhile, the Desert Vipers became the first team to qualify for the playoffs of the DP World ILT20 after their eight-wicket win over the Sharjah Warriorz on Saturday. They’ve enjoyed a superb campaign so far, winning six of their seven matches, and move a step closer to winning their maiden title.

Tim Southee, captain of the Sharjah Warriorz said: “We were in it for a majority of the game. It was a pretty good score. We have three games left, hopefully we can salvage something.”

Player of the match, Tom Alsop said: “It was nice to spend some time out there. The conditions were very different from last night, I just tried to soak in the pressure and grind out. Today it was a bit more batter-friendly.”