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Sanchit Sharma (IANS Image)
Gulf Giants skipper James Vince led the way with a 44-ball 65 as his team chased down the target in 14.1 overs.
UAE fast bowler Sanchit Sharma dazzles Zayed Cricket A spectacular performance (3-9) at the stadium helped Gulf Giants beat Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by six wickets in the third match of the International League T20 here on Sunday.
Sharma’s brilliant performance helped the Giants restrict the Knight Riders to 114 for nine. Thereafter, Gulf Giants skipper James Vince led the way with a 44-ball 65 as his team chased down their target in 14.1 overs.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders could not progress their innings from the start. Sanchit Sharma dismissed Colin Ingram for 7 off 10 balls in the fourth over and he took two wickets in consecutive balls, dismissing Brandon King and Connor Esterhuizen.
Liam Dawson also joined the party in the eighth over when he sent back Paul Stirling for 20 runs, reducing Abu Dhabi Knight Riders to 34 for 4.
Andre Russell tried to take center stage with a few fours and sixes, however, his innings was short-lived as he was dismissed by Chris Jordan for 26 off 12 balls, leaving the Knight Riders at 66 for 6 in the 12th over done.
Captain Sunil Narine dismissed Rehan Ahmed for the maximum score in the first ball of the 13th over, but he was walking back to the pavilion in the very next over when he was caught by David Wiese for 11 off 11 balls.
After Narine’s departure, the Knight Riders found the fence only on two occasions. Jawar Fareed hit Jordan for a six in the 18th over and then hit Richard Gleeson for a four in the next over.
Jordan bowled an excellent final over, dismissing Zawar Fareed for 19 off 24 balls as the Knight Riders could only manage 114 for 9 in their allotted 20 overs.
Even though Abu Dhabi Knight Riders had a relatively low score on the board, Ravi Rampaul kept his team’s hopes alive by getting early wickets. He dismissed Rehan Ahmed for 7 runs in 9 balls in the third over. But all those hopes were dashed when skipper James Vince hit Rampaul for two fours and a six to reduce the Giants to 40 for one in the fifth over.
After this, Ollie Pope also took the lead in the sixth over by hitting Matiullah Khan for two fours. Vince continued on top and brought up his half-century in the ninth over after hitting Akil Hossein for consecutive sixes.
However, Knight Riders captain Narine ended Vince and Pope’s 75-run stand when he dismissed Vince for 65 off 44 balls and Pope for 18 off 18 balls in the 12th over.
Gerhard Erasmus also fell in the first ball of the 13th over, but the wickets came a little late as the Giants were just 20 runs short of their target of 95 for four. Shimron Hetmyer hit Akil Hossain for a maximum six as the Giants chased down the target in just 14.1 overs.
“I’m very happy with my performance. It’s a dream start for me. I took three big wickets – opener, number three and number four batsman. Those wickets set up the match for us. I bowled with the new ball in the practice matches So I was sure that I will take the new ball in today’s game,” Sanchit said after the win.
Brief Scores: Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 114/9 in 20 overs (Andre Russell 26, Paul Stirling 20, Sanchit Sharma 3-9, Chris Jordan 3-28) beat Gulf Giants 115/4 in 14.1 overs (James Vince 65, Sunil) lost to Narine 2-21) by six wickets.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)