Left-arm spinner Aayan Khan starred with the ball as Gulf Giants defeated Sharjah Warriorz by six wickets in an ILT20 Season 4 clash in Dubai. The UAE spinner’s incisive spell of 3/17 restricted the Warriorz to 157 for 6, setting the stage for Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s half-century and a crucial cameo from Azmatullah Omarzai to seal the win on Wednesday night.
Sharjah Warriorz suffered their third consecutive defeat of the tournament, while the Giants notched their third victory in four games to stay firmly in second place on the points table.
Chasing 158, the Giants launched an aggressive assault with Gurbaz scoring 50 off 36 balls and Vince contributing 35 off 28. The pair attacked immediately, plundering 21 runs off Wasim Akram in the second over. Five sixes in the power play helped the Giants race to 73/0, establishing an early upper hand.
Vince fell in the eighth over to Sikandar Raza, and the Giants managed only 48 runs between the sixth and 16th over, keeping the game tense. With 47 runs required off 39 balls, Gerhard Erasmus (15 off 18) and Azmatullah Omarzai (28 off 21) formed a crucial partnership. Omarzai struck Southee for a six in the final over and helped secure victory with two balls to spare before falling on the next delivery.
Earlier, Johnson Charles (36 off 32) and Kusal Mendis (23 off 15) had steadied the Warriorz to 48/1 by the end of the powerplay. However, the Giants’ spinners dominated the middle overs, with Aayan Khan dismantling the middle order by 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) dismissed Sikandar Raza (3 off 7) while Mark Adair removed Shubham Ranjane (17 off 21), leaving the Warriorz at 119/6 in the 18th over. Dwaine Pretorius then helped the Warriors push past the 150-run mark, but it was not enough to defend their total.
