Gurbaz, Vince, spinners take Gulf Giants back to winning ways

Gulf Giants returned to winning ways, chasing down a target of 158 against the Sharjah Warriorz. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 50, while Aayan Khan's 3 for 17 helped restrict the Warriorz to a chaseable total. The Warriorz have now lost all three of their opening fixtures.

The Warriorz started quickly with Johnson Charles hitting early boundaries. Mark Adair removed Tom Kohler-Cadmore early. Kusal Mendis added a four and a six, but the introduction of Aayan Khan in the eighth over brought immediate success, dismissing Mendis. Aayan then removed Charles in his next over, leaving the Warriorz at 69 for 3 after 10 overs.

Spinners Liam Dawson and Aayan Khan combined to concede only 31 runs between the 7th and 12th overs. Tim David hit a couple of boundaries, but Aayan had him caught. Dawson was rewarded with the wicket of Sikandar Raza on the final ball of his spell, finishing with 1 for 21.

Dwaine Pretorius' cameo of 36 off 17 balls propelled the Warriorz in the death overs. He hit two sixes and a four in a 20-run 19th over, helping them reach 157 for 6.

For the Giants, James Vince and Gurbaz opened in the absence of Pathum Nissanka. Vince attacked Wasim Akram in the second over, scoring 21 runs. Gurbaz hit two sixes off Tim Southee as the Giants raced to a 50-run stand by the fifth over.

Sikandar Raza broke the 78-run partnership by removing Vince. Spinners Raza and Maheesh Theekshana slowed the scoring in the middle overs. Gurbaz reached his fifty in the 13th over but fell soon after, caught off Raza. With 37 needed from the last four overs, Azmatullah Omarzai broke the shackles with a six. The equation came down to 17 off 12, then 9 off 6. Omarzai smashed Southee for a six before falling next ball, but Sean Dickson hit the winning runs.

Brief Scores: Sharjah Warriorz 157/6 in 20 overs (Dwaine Pretorius 36*, Johnson Charles 36; Aayan Khan 3-17, Mark Adair 2-22) lost to Gulf Giants 158/4 in 19.4 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 50, James Vince 35; Sikandar Raza 2-20, Adil Rashid 1-21) by 6 wickets.