Gulf Giants rout Sharjah Warriors to keep playoffs hopes alive

Mohammad Abdullah, Senior Sports Reporter

Shimron Hetmyer smacked a whirlwind fifty before Zuhaib Zubair took a four-wicket haul as Gulf Giants defeated Sharjah Warriors by 79 runs in their DP World ILT20 match on Sunday.

After posting 187/6, Giants restricted Warriors to 108 to notch up their third win. With the victory, Giants moved to the third spot and kept their hopes alive of making it to the playoffs.

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UAE spinner Ayaan Afzal Khan gave Giants a dream start as he got rid of the two batsmen in first two deliveries of the innings to derail the big chase of 189 from the beginning.

Niroshan Dickwella spooned a simple catch to wicketkeeper as he tried to sweep Ayaan and ball got the upper edge of the bat and landed in the safe hands of Smith.

On the next delivery, Denly was caught at mid-off as Warriors were off to a nightmarish start. Both the batsmen were out for a golden duck. After that Warriors kept on losing wickets on regular intervals and could never recover.

Only captain Tom Kohler-Cadmore showed some resistance with a fighting 23-ball 39. But he did not get any support from the other batsmen. By the end of the ninth over, Warriors had reached 50/5, out of which 39 came from Kohler-Cadmore.

Drakes got rid of Kohler-Cadmore to peg Warriors back. Kohler-Cadmore’s dismissal opened the floodgates for Zuhaib Zubair. He ripped through the lower-order as Warriors’ batting collapsed like a pack of cards.

He accounted for the dismissals of Lewsi Gregory, Daniel Sams, James Fuller and Chris Woakes to wipe off the tail as Warriors ended up on 108.

Earlier, Shaun Williams led the fightback with a triple strike after Giants raced to 75/2. Despite the early dismissal of Jamie Smith, James Vince and Chris Lynn anchored the innings with a 66-run partnership for the second wicket.

Both the batsmen played sensibly and brought the Giants into a strong position. They kept the Warriors’ bowlers at bay before Williams struck in the 10th over.

He triggered the collapse and struck thrice in quick succession. He ripped through the middle order of the Giants to leave them in tatters. Williams broke the dangerous-looking partnership by getting rid of Lynn, getting him caught by Denly to bring respite in the Warriors' camp.

Lynn played a swashbuckling innings of 32-ball 45. He smashed six hits to the fence and one over it during his stint at the crease. Soon after his dismissal, Vince holed out to Woakes three balls later as Giants lost two wickets within a span of one run.

A double strike in the same over pushed the Giants on the backfoot completely once again as they spurned a chance to capitalise on the huge partnership between Lynn and Vince.

The Giants captain played a watchful knock of 20 off 20 balls with the help of a six and a four. In his next over, Williams rattled the stumps of Jordan Cox to reduce Giants from a strong position of 74/1 to 87/4 in 11.5 overs.

The Giants needed someone to play big knock to help them post a defendable total. The onus of taking Giants to a fighting total once again came on Hetmyer, who was the highest scorer on the previous day against Vipers.

Hetmyer and Gerhard Erasmus knuckled down to build the innings once again. They played sensibly and added 35 runs for the fifth wicket in just 21 balls. Erasmus was taken behind the stumps as he nicked it to the wicketkeeper in an attempt to play an outswinger over the covers.

After the dismissal of Erasmus, Hetmyer changed his gears. He got a reprieve when batting on 23. He tried to clear the deep midwicket but could travel to Denly, who took a low-running catch off Sams. But the third umpire turned down the decision of the on-field umpire and ruled it as not out.

Hetmyer seemed to vent his anger on Williams. He whipped 26 runs of the wily spinner, hitting him for three sixes and one boundary. He raced to his fifty in just 24 deliveries with a six off the last ball as Williams ended up conceding 46 runs in four overs. Joe Overton also flexed his muscles and took 16 from the last over bowled by Woakes. But Woakes had the last laugh as he got Overton caught at midwicket by Charles. But the damage had been done as Giants posted a huge total of 187/6.

Overton and Hetmyer shared a 59-run partnership in just 4.2 overs. Hetmyer remained unbeaten on 53 off 28 balls. His knock was studded with four sixes and three boundaries.