The Gulf Giants became the second team to qualify for the play-offs with a thrilling win over MI Emirates in their final match at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Wednesday (1 February). MI were sent off for 139 and lost his final eight wickets by just 51 runs. The Giants were comfortably placed in pursuit before stuttering, bouncing and just over the line with five wickets in hand. The win also pushed the Giants to the top of the table.
It was just a power play for the Giants in pursuit as they scored 35 on the power play without losing a wicket. James Vince and Tom Bunton extended their partnership to 61 years before Jordan Thompson took charge of the former. He went down four fours and made 38 in his last five overs.
Gerhard Erasmus, who made 20 runs in a 42-run streak against Lynn, was dismissed in 18 overs by Fazalhak Falooqi, who wasted just 4 runs in his overs. Dwayne Bravo took the wicket from Lynn and also David Wiese to keep the Giants 11 out of the final. It came at three off the final ball when Simron Hetmayer sent a low full throw from Thompson over the deep mid-wicket fence to seal a nervous victory for the Giants. Earlier, after opting for bowling, the Giants’ bowlers made a disciplined effort to limit their MI to under 140. Dominic Drakes, Wiese and Chris Jordan led bowling brilliantly, batting regularly while being frugal. The we. Rehan Ahmed, though from four overs he scored 47 runs, Nicholas He took an important scalp from Poulain and Kieron his Pollard, preventing MI’s innings from gaining momentum.
Muhammad Waseem hit his 25-ball 29, but he lacked support from the other side when Andre Fletcher and Basil Hameed were released cheaply. Poulin and Waseem then attempted to establish a base, scoring 61 consecutive runs from 46 deliveries. However, the set pair were eliminated in consecutive overs, with Pollard falling after hitting 6s for 4 and 2, leaving MI at 120/5 in 15 overs. MI then completely collapsed as they lost his last five wickets and added his 19 runs to the rollout.
Brief scores: Mi Emirates 139 in 19.5 overs (Nicholas Pooran 42; Chris Jordan 3-12, David Wiese 2-14) lost to Gulf Giants 143/5 in 20 overs (Tom Banton 45; Dwayne Bravo 2-32) by 5 wickets.