Gulf Giants defeat Desert Vipers

Gulf Giants beat Desert Vipers by 25 runs and secured a top-two finish through Shimron Hetmyer’s hard-hitting half-century in the 27th match of the DP World ILT2.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA)_Monitoring, Hetmyer, who was Gulf Giants’ hero in their previous match against MI Emirates through his last ball six, scored a stroke-filled 54 off 35 balls with four sixes and two boundaries.

He was backed by skipper James Vince’s 39 runs to help Gulf Giants post 180 for 6 in 20 overs.

Desert Vipers could muster only 155 for 6 against the tight Gulf Giants attack. Tom Curran tried hard to take his team to target through an unbeaten 42 off 33 balls with five boundaries and a six, but his efforts were not successful.

Desert Vipers won the toss and elected to bowl.

Speaking about their victory, Gulf Giants’ David Wiese said: “This was a big game for us as we wanted to confirm our place in the top two. Every single bowler has stood up when they have needed to in the tournament. Aayan Afzal Khan bowled beautifully today. The bowlers have been supporting each other nicely and everyone’s been doing the job.”

Also speaking after the match, Desert Vipers’ Tom Curran said: “Losing wickets in a cluster didn’t help us. I thought we could get to the target at one point in the game. It would have been a different story if I was batting with a recognised batter. I also thought that they got too many runs. It wasn’t a straightforward wicket. We probably got it a bit wrong with the ball and that can happen.”

Meanwhile, playoffs begin on 8 February at the Dubai International Stadium.

Cricket fans across Afghanistan can catch the LIVE telecast of this exciting cricket league on Ariana Television.