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Gulf Giants cruised to a five-wicket win over Desert Vipers in a thrilling match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. ILT20 Sunday, January 22.
Opting to field first, skipper James Vince’s decision backfired as the opposition piled up a competitive total courtesy of 195 in the first innings. Alex Hales’ sensational 99 off just 57 balls.
Hales hit an innings-high five and 10 boundaries before being dismissed by Chris Jordan, just one shy of a century. Meanwhile, Vipers skipper Colin Munro also hit the ground running, but could not convert it into a big score as he was sent packing for 39 off 23 balls by Richard Gleeson.
Despite losing early wickets, the Gulf giants chased down 195 runs
With the Desert Vipers’ competitive total set, the onus was on the opposing team’s openers to lay a solid foundation. However, openers Tom Banton and James Vince were dismissed in four overs in quick time, adding more pressure on the rest of the team to shift gears.
Despite losing early wickets, explosive batsman Chris Lynn came into the middle order and held his nerve and produced a sensational knock. Batter performed a rescue job with his innings as he scored 71 off just 42 balls to tilt the momentum in favor of the Gulf giants.
Lynn put on a crucial 117-run partnership With Shimron Hetmayer Which steered the side to get closer to the total. Hetmyer also dominated proceedings, hitting 70 off just 35 balls with five sixes and a four. Soon after their dismissal, veteran cricketers David Wiese (22 off 19) and Liam Dawson (16 off 9) ended the contest with just three balls to spare.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the Gulf Giants’ thrilling victory:
Great chase by the Gulf giants. amazing thing #ILT20
— Cricket Tamizhan (@crickettamizhan) January 22, 2023
Cottrell was quite surprised not to bowl the last over #ILT20
— Shamroz Khan (@Shamroz87) January 22, 2023
4 by Wiese #ILT20
— Shamroz Khan (@Shamroz87) January 22, 2023
Shimron Hetmyer departs after changing the game. He has put the Gulf giants in a comfortable position to win this match.
📸: Zee 5#Hetmyer #GulfGiants #DesertViper #DPWorldILT20 #cricktracker pic.twitter.com/MPVq3lbqGg
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) January 22, 2023
Alex Hales so far in this ILT 20 league:
•83*(52).
•64(47).
•110(59).
•99(57).4 innings, 356 runs, 118.66 average, 165.58 strike rate!
— Faiz Fazel (@theFaizFazel) January 22, 2023
David is the match finisher 🙌
LQ blood #ILT20— saa_19 (@196khi) January 22, 2023
Four straight wins for @GulfGiants inside #ILT20. Gulf Giants won by 5 wickets. Nice knock @Shetmire 70(35) and @liny50 71(42).#DVvGG
— Jayshan (Vaidhya Jaishankar) (@jayshan) January 22, 2023
