Wiese’s five-fer sets up seven-wicket win for Giants over Warriors
Wiese celebrates a wicket (Source: ILT20)
Gulf Giants stormed into the playoffs with a number one finish on the ILT20 2023 points table. The James Vince-led side steamrolled the Sharjah Warriors in their final league stage game of the tournament, to finish their opening round with seven wins and just one defeat.
David Wiese wrecks Warriors, skittles them out for just 107
Earlier, Gulf Giants skipper James Vince had won the toss and opted to field first. A strong powerplay start by the Sharjah Warriors’ top-order was tendered completely unfeasible by the Giants bowlers, with David Wiese inflicting the most damage in the middle overs.
After racing to 42-1 within the first five overs, the Warriors lost wickets in heap to end up gasping for breath at 67-7 a while later. A total of 107 was all they could manage in the innings, with opener Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Mohammad Nabi accounting for almost half of the total runs.
Wiese snared five wickets off his four over spell while conceding just 20 runs. He was ably assisted by star all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite who claimed two while Sanchit Sharma and Tom Helm took a wicket apiece.
Grandhomme, Vince crack down relaxed task against Warriors
Giants’ opener Tom Banton and skipper Vince wiped out 32 runs off their target in their opening stand. New Zealand international Colin de Grandhomme took the chase further with a fluent 35 while Aayan Afzal Khan and Gerhard Erasmus finished off the proceedings with ease.
Among the Warriors’ bowlers, Junaid Siddique struck twice off his four-over spell while dynamic Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis did his best to tighten the scoring rate from his end. The cricketer conceded just 16 runs off his four overs and sent Banton back to the pavilion inside the powerplay.
However, the table-toppers still ended up with two points as they claimed their win with more than three overs still intact in the game.
Brief scores:
Sharjah Warriors: 107 (18.3)
Tom Kohler-Cadmore 32 (19), Mohammad Nabi 21 (20)
David Wiese 5-20, Carlos Brathwaite 2-15
Gulf Giants: 108-3 (16.3)
Colin de Grandhomme 35 (28), James Vince 27 (31)
Junaid Siddique 2-27, Marcus Stoinis 1-16
Gulf Giants won by seven wickets
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