Aayan Khan stars as Gulf Giants defeat Sharjah Warriorz by six wickets in ILT20

Dubai, Dec 11 (PTI) Left-arm spinner Aayan Khan grabbed three wickets in an incisive bowling display to help Gulf Giants beat Sharjah Warriorz by six wickets in an ILT20 Season 4 match here.

The UAE spinner’s haul restricted the Warriorz to 157 for 6 in the first innings before Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s half-century and Azmatullah Omarzai’s cameo sealed the win Wednesday night.

The Warriorz slipped to their third straight defeat of the ILT20 Season 4, while the Giants notched their third win in four games to remain firmly in second place on the points table.

Chasing 158 for a win, the Giants launched an explosive assault through Gurbaz (50 off 36 balls) and Vince (35 off 28 balls). The pair set the tone immediately, plundering 21 runs off Wasim Akram in the second over.

Their aggressive intent was clear as they smoked five sixes during the powerplay, racing to 73/0 and effectively putting the Giants miles ahead in the chase.

Vince departed off Sikandar Raza in the eighth over as the Giants managed only 48 runs between the sixth and 16th over.

The Giants needed 47 runs in 39 balls when Gerhard Erasmus (15 off 18 balls) and Azmatullah Omarzai (28 off 21 balls) came together as the equation came down to eight runs off six balls.

Omarzai then Southee for a six in the final over, before he perished on the next ball, but he had done enough for the Giants to win with two balls to spare.

Earlier, Johnson Charles (36 off 32 balls) and Kusal Mendis (23 off 15 balls) steered the Warriorz to 48/1 by the end of the fielding restrictions.

The Giants spinners, however, dominated the middle phase as Aayan sliced through with an exceptional spell of 3/17 in four overs, removing Charles, Mendis and Tim David (19 off 14) to leave the Warriorz reeling at 94/4 in 13.3 overs.

Liam Dawson (1/21) claimed Sikandar Raza (3 off 7 balls) , while Mark Adair returned to end Shubham Ranjane’s (17 off 21 balls) contribution as they slipped to 119/6 in the 18th over.

Dwaine Pretorius (36 off 17 balls) then helped the Warriors cross the 150-mark. PTI PDS PDS ATK