- After winning the draw and finishing first, the Giants won the first-ever final of DP World with seven wickets in front of a large crowd at the Dubai International Stadium.
DUBAI: In the International League T20, the Gulf Giants defeated the Desert Vipers by seven wickets in Dubai.
The top two teams met for the fourth time in the tournament, with the Giants having won two of the previous three meetings against their last opponent. At the Dubai International Stadium, the Giants won the draw on Sunday night and decided to perform in front of a nearly sold-out crowd.
Eight runs came from the first. Alex Hales, the Viper opener, had set the early part of the tournament on fire by scoring 438 runs in his first five innings. His last six innings had resulted in only 50. Carlos Brathwaite had bowled him in their previous encounter. Faced with Brathwaite’s first over, the second of innings, Hales pushed into the deep middle to be caught for a single.
The top two teams met for the fourth time in the tournament, with the Giants having won two of the previous three meetings against their last opponent. At the Dubai International Stadium, the Giants won the draw on Sunday night and decided to perform in front of a nearly sold-out crowd.
Eight runs came from the first. Alex Hales, the Viper opener, had set the early part of the tournament on fire by scoring 438 runs in his first five innings. His last six innings had resulted in only 50. Carlos Brathwaite had bowled him in their previous encounter. Faced with Brathwaite’s first over, the second of innings, Hales pushed into the deep middle to be caught for a single.
Another disaster struck the Viper when Mustafa set off on a run and was halfway to the other end when the non-striker, Adam Lyth, sent him back, Mustafa could not hold his ground with some distance. Lyth became aggressive trying to make up for this, but when he hooked De Grandhomme he was caught on a fine leg, the score 25 for 3 at the end of the fifth over, an unusual one in T20 cricket as it was a wicket maid.
Billings and Munro tried to rebuild for the innings, but no limit was reached until one of Billings was over in the eighth. In the ninth over, Munro pressed Jordan, who dived spectacularly to catch the ball with one hand and reduced the Vipers to 48 for four after nine overs.
New batter Wanindu Hasaranga was immediately on the offensive and Billings added 40 runs in the next three overs and another 27 in the next two. Brathwaite returned to try to stem the tide, which he did, Billings was brilliantly caught by the jumping David Wiese with one hand above his head.
At 116 to five, this seemed to be a defining moment, which was reinforced when Hasaranga Ahmad scored directly to move out in the next over. Wickets then fell at regular intervals, the innings closed at 146 to eight. Brathwaite took 3 for 19 in his four overs at a critical stage of the DP World ILT 20 final, with each wicket being that of a key beater.
Even taking into account a slow wicket, that sum didn’t feel like enough.
The Giants made the steady start that the Vipers hadn’t managed, and reached 19 after three overs without loss. Vince seemed to continue his imperious form of the previous game when he scored an undefeated 83. It was a surprise when he tried to steer to the third man, played the ball too close to Billings, who dived to make the catch. Twenty-six for a wicket after four overs became 29 for two, de Grandhomme drove a ball of good length from Tom Curran around.
When Hasaranga was introduced, the batsmen immediately adopted the policy used in the previous game against Rashid Khan, namely to sweep almost every ball. They did it with very good effect, increasing the score to 62 for two after nine overs. The Giants made good progress until the 15th over, when Erasmus tried a long six but didn’t get enough power, Curran took the catch, the score 99 for three. This left the Giants, who needed 48 runs of 30 balls.
Shimron Hetmyer, the new batsman, was initially reserved, but soon threw off the shackles and scored Luke Wood for six and four over the middle of the goal. Chris Lynn then drove two fours to bring the score to 123 for three after 17 overs with 18 runs. After that, there was no stopping Hetmyer or Lynn, the goal was reached to 148 with a four from Lynn, 72 not out, with eight deliveries remaining.
Although the Giants’ goal may have been close in several places, 42 runs of 24 deliveries, they had gates in hand, Lynn and Hetmyer were well adjusted. Another 20 runs by the Vipers would have tested the Giants’ batting power, but Brathwaite’s sharp bowling, two outstanding catches, coupled with the failure of the Viper’s top order, proved to be the defining features that defined the match.
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