OTD| Gulf Giants beat Desert Vipers to win the inaugural edition of ILT20 in 2023

On this day, Gulf Giants defeated Desert Vipers by 7 wickets in the inaugural season of the International League (IL)T20. The Giants held Desert Vipers to 146 for 8 in 20 overs, thanks to Carlos Brathwaite’s excellent spell as he picked three wickets, and as they made an end to the thrilling edition of the tournament for the first time. Giants’ skipper James Vince and Chris Lynn began their search for a comfortable total of 147 on a tough track. However, the pressure of a major final weighed on the Giants’ heads.

Alex Hales and Rohan Mustafa opened the innings for the Vipers. Both openers were back in the pavilion on a green topping with movement in it. They were struggling at 30/3. Sam Billings and Wanindu Hasaranga stitched a partnership of 72 runs after they were at 62 /4. That helped them to post a defendable total. 

In reply, Tom Curran, Sheldon Cottrell, and Luke Wood somewhat troubled the batter during the power play as they picked the wicket of opener James Vince who was back in the pavilion for 14 runs and Colin de Grandhomme was back early. The Giants were reduced to 34 for 2 after six overs. Lynn along with Gerhard Erasmus helped Gulf Giants post 74 runs for two after 10 overs and made sure they had the counter-punch. 

Lynn starred for the Giants in the inaugural edition

They stitched a valuable and important partnership of 73 runs off 62 deliveries before the latter was dismissed by Wanindu Hasaranga. The former scored his fifty and took the game away after scoring 18 runs in the 17th over of Mark Wood. Lynn’s brilliant knock of 72 runs under pressure helped the Giants to win their inaugural ILT20 title. 

The second is presently underway and has been going well with the Giants in the second position of the table and the Vipers struggling at the bottom half. The playoff games will start tomorrow and it will be interesting to watch if there will be a new winner of the tournament.