ABU DHABI: Gulf Giants defeated MI Emirates by five wickets in a thrilling finish to qualify for the playoffs of the DP World ILT20 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Chris Jordan took three wickets and Dominic Drakes, David Wiese and Rehan Ahmed bagged two each as MI Emirates were bowled out for 139 in 19.5 overs.
Opener Tom Banton provided Gulf Giants a good platform but they lost their way and required 11 runs off the final over. Shimron Hetmyer hit the last ball for a six to end a nail-biting game.
Banton scored 45 off 39 balls with five fours and a six.
Jordan with figures of 3-12 along with Drakes (2-21), David Wiese (2-14) and Rehan Ahmed (2-27) set the stage for victory.
Gulf Giants won the toss and elected to bowl. MI Emirates’ opener Andre Fletcher fell to the second ball of the first over trapped leg before by Dominic Drakes. UAE’s Basil Hameed joined his national team and prolific scorer Muhammad Waseem. They took the score to 27 in 3.4 overs when Hameed going for a pull shot off Wiese edged to his helmet and got caught by Chris Lynn at short fine leg for 9. Only 36 runs came off the powerplay.
Nicholas Pooran cracked the first six off the match off Ahmed over long-on. The ninth over from Ahmed turned costly when Waseem hit one six and Pooran hit him for two sixes and took 21 runs off that over.
In the 10th over, Waseem hit Wiese for a huge six over long-on. At the half way mark, MI Emirates were 76-2.
In the 12th over, Chris Jordan struck to clean bowl Waseem for 29. Pooran and Waseem had put on 61 runs in 46 balls for the third wicket.
Ahmed took the prized wicket of Pooran in the 13th over, forcing him to pull into the hands of Hetmyer at deep mid-wicket for 42. The task of accelerating the run flow fell on skipper Kieron Pollard and Najibullah Zadran but Pollard departed pulling Ahmed to Drakes at mid-wicket for 19.
With half the side back in the dug-out for 112 by the 15th over, MI Emirates continued to lose wicket in every over that followed.
In the 16th over, Zadran going for a pull top-edged to wicketkeeper Tom Banton off Jordan for 1. This was followed by Jordan Thompson falling to Drakes in the next over caught by Chris Lynn at gully for 1. In the 18th over, Trent Boult got caught by James Vince at mid-off for 1 off Wise.
In the last over, Jordan picked his third wicket, having Dwayne Bravo caught at covers by Drakes for 3 while Fazalhaq Farooqi got run out for a duck.
In the last 52 deliveries, MI Emirates lost eight wickets for 51 runs and could score only 18 runs and lost five wickets in the last five overs
Chasing the gettable target, opener and skipper James Vince with Banton batted at a very slow pace and with caution. In the powerplay they scored just 35 runs and went on to register a half century partnership in 7.4 overs.
At the score on 61, Vince fell to the last ball of the ninth over to Jordan Thompson caught by Bravo at long off for 26.
Lynn joined Banton with 79 runs needed in 66 balls. Banton went on to score freely and hit 45 before Bravo got him out caught by Waseem at deep mid-wicket. Gerhard Erasmus with Lynn kept the scoreboard moving. Lynn hit Thompson for three consecutive boundaries in the 14th over to take 17 runs off that over.
In the last five overs, Gulf Giants needed 38 runs only. Lynn and Erasmus put on 42 runs in 4.5 overs to pull their team closer to victory before Erasmus got caught by Bravo off Fazalhaq Farooqi for 20.
Lynn fell for 28 caught by Waseem at deep extra cover when Gulf Giants needed 17 runs in the last 11 deliveries. Wiese slashed at Bravo to get a boundary. Bravo got Jordan run out while trying to steal a single to make it 11 runs needed off the last over.
Jordan Thompson bowling the last over bowled a wide, gave two runs to the second delivery, a single to the third and made it seven runs off the last four balls, then six runs off the last three through a single. Another wide made it four runs off two balls and a single off the next to make it three off the last ball. Hetmyer hit the last ball for a mighty six over long on to pull off a thrilling win.
MI Emirates are in third slot two points ahead of Dubai Capital and Sharjah Warriors but it will be an exciting three-way shootout between these teams for the last two slots in the knockout stage.
Brief scores: Gulf Giants bt MI Emirates by 5 wickets.
MI Emirates 139 in 19.5 overs (M Waseem 29, Ni Pooran 42; D Drakes 2-21, D Wiese 2-14, C Jordan 3-12, R Ahmed 2-27). Gulf Giants 143-5 in 20 overs (T Banton 45, J Vince 26, C Lynn 28, G Erasmus 20; D Bravo 2-32).
Player of Match ($1,500): Chris Jordan
DP World Smart delivery of the day ($1,500): Chris Jordan to Muhammad Waseem
Fairplay News biggest hit of the match ($1,500): Kieron Pollard’s six of 97 metres.
Skytech.Net Super 4s of the match ($1,500): Tom Banton (5 boundaries).
Sportsbuzz Buzzmaker of the match ($1,500): Chris Jordan for scoring 101 fantasy points.
Green Belt Holder: Alex Hales
White Belt Holder: Chris Jordan
