Sharjah Warriorz recorded their second victory of the season, while Matheesha Pathirana scored a three-for a day before the IPL auction. The Gulf Giants were chasing a goal of 175 and the Warriorz held them to 163 for 9 as the Sri Lankan finished with numbers of 4-1-19-3. Tom Abell scored the majority of the Warriorz’s 68 off 41 in the first innings to put a competitive score on the board, while Wasim Akram also claimed three wickets (3-34).
Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s ILT20 woes continued when the Warriorz were asked to bat; he was knocked cheaply for six by Fred Klaasen with his first ball in the ILT20. Johnson Charles holed out to long-on in the final PowerPlay over after hitting two boundaries from Matthew Forde. Abell hit two consecutive sixes and a four off Klaasen for 19 runs in the fifth over, sandwiching this.
One brought two since Pathirana caused Forde to mishandle a pull, which Rew pocketed.
Then, Abell and James Rew combined for 71 runs. Prior to Abell reaching his 50 off 32 balls, they often hit boundaries by focussing on the spin of Moeen Ali and Liam Dawson. Additionally, he performed a stunning inside-out stroke over extra-cover for a maximum. Aayan Khan then holled out to deep mid-wicket after he had fallen. A few overs later, Dwaine Pretorius joined Sikandar Raza at the crease, and Chris Wood bowled Rew. The South African smashed two boundaries off Wood after taking 16 runs off Forde in the 18th over. Pretorius was run out off the final ball, ending his cameo of 28 off 13.
In response, Ethan D’Souza dropped Rahmanullah Gurbaz off Taskin Ahmed in the first over, giving him a reprieve. The in-form Pathum Nissanka was given a low score of three by Wasim Akram. Despite getting the crucial wicket of James Vince for a duck, Gurbaz managed to hold Taskin for a four and a six in his next over. Gurbaz kept hitting boundaries, but the Giants kept losing wickets as Mayers fell to Akram. Three balls later, Pathirana used an off-cutter to castle the dangerous Gurbaz, leaving the Giants 38 for 4 in 4.3 overs, making matters worse for the team.
The Giants then rallied with 79 runs from Moeen (45) and Azmatullah Omarzai (41) combined over the next 10 overs. Akram gained his third with Omarzai’s just as the partnership started to appear dangerous. Asif Khan was picked up by Pretorius as the Giants kept losing. Before the Giants finished on 163 for 9 in their allocated overs, Pathirana’s dismissal of Moeen was the final straw.
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