Tom Alsop played a blinder as he struck an unbeaten 85 to propel the Gulf Giants to a fine six-wicket win against the Sharjah Warriorz in the DP World ILT20 Season 3 clash at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday evening. Tom Alsop played the starring role in an exhilarating run-chase for the Giants, after Blessing Muzarabani delivered a tight four-over spell.
Gulf Giants’ opener Tom Alsop carried his bat through with a match-winning 85 not out off 60 balls to guide his team to a six-wicket win over Sharjah Warriors in ILT20 on Sunday. Chasing a challenging 171 for 6, the Giants reached home in a last-over finish, which saw Tom Curran (26 not out off 17 balls) ably supporting Tom Alsop.
Gulf Giants, under the spirited leadership of James Vince, recorded a rare win this ILT20 2025 season by defeating Sharjah Warriorz in match number 21 of the tournament at the Sharjah Cricket Ground on Sunday, January 26.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : Talking about the dimensions, 57m away to the off-side and 70m to the leg-side and 74m downtown. The same surface was used in the last couple of matches here. It looks a really good surface. It might be a touch slower but there’s plenty to score. It will be easier to score down the ground. Batting first is tough but if you get through the powerplay, then you can score runs, reckon Simon Doull and Urooj Mumtaz.
Toss : Gulf Giants skipper James Vince won the toss and chose to field with Dominic Drakes coming into the playing XI. Sharjah Warriorz skipper Tim Southee batting first made two changes in the playing XI bringing in Dilshan Madushanka and Ethan Dsouza in the playing XI.
Blessing Muzarabani’s 3-fer restricts Sharjah Warriorz to 171 for 6 for 20 overs
Earlier, the Gulf Giants won the toss and opted to bowl. Johnson Charles and Tom Kohler-Cadmore got the Sharjah Warriorz off to a flyer as they stitched together a solid opening partnership that laid the foundation for their innings. Kohler-Cadmore did the bulk of the scoring early on, but once Charles got going, it was hard to stop him. He hit Daniel Worrall for 18 runs before falling on the final ball of the sixth over for 30 off 19.
Sharjah Warriorz openers Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Johnson Charles extracted 57 runs from the opening powerplay, with the latter chipping in with a swift 19-ball 30 before falling to Gulf Giants fast bowler Daniel Worrall. Courtesy of Blessing Muzarabani, well-set Kohler-Cadmore also made his way back to the sheds a couple of overs later after making 29 from 25 balls with four elegant boundaries.
The Warriorz lost two more wickets in the form of Avishka Fernando (6 off 5) and Tim Seifert (11 off 18) to Mark Adair and Dominic Drakes respectively to slip to 100-4 in 13.3 overs.
The Warriorz amassed 57 in the powerplay and looked well-placed to hit that 200-run mark but a middle-order slump saw their run rate drop drastically. Blessing Muzarabani struck in the eighth over to get Kohler-Cadmore for 29 before Avishka Fernando was sent back for six in the next over. From a commanding position, the Sharjah Warriorz were now reeling at 79/3 at the halfway mark.
Jason Roy’s arrival offered the Sharjah Warriorz some much-needed stability as he kept the scoreboard ticking. The Englishman struck Curran for three boundaries as he lifted his side to 140-4 with three overs remaining.
The game turned on its head in Muzarabani’s 18th over when he conceded a six off his first ball but regrouped well to pick up two wickets, including the prized wicket of Roy for 44. Ashton Agar clobbered a flurry of boundaries at the death to help the Sharjah Warriorz to a solid total of 171, which was later successfully chased down by the Gulf Giants.
Jason Roy at number four counterattacked for the Sharjah Warriorz by top-scoring with 44 runs from just 30 balls with six elegant boundaries. Providing the much-needed slog overs impetus to the Warriorz innings, the Englishman as well as well-set Ethan D’Souza (14 off 9) both made their way back to the dugout within a single Blessing Muzarabani over (3-32). Ashton Agar launched two sixes and a boundary in his unbeaten cameo of 13-ball 23* to surge the Sharjah Warriorz total to 171-6 from 20 overs.
Tom Alsop unbeaten 85* steers Gulf Giants to six-wicket win over Sharjah Warriorz
Gulf Giants captain James Vince charged at Sharjah Warriorz bowlers at the top during his 42-run opening partnership with Tom Alsop in just 3.4 overs. Vince carted five boundaries in his 14-ball 24 before he found Ethan D’Souza at deep square off Dilshan Madushanka.
Chasing 172 was always going to be tricky, but Tom Alsop and James Vince did splendidly well to get the Gulf Giants going. The duo hit six fours between them in the first three overs to make their intentions clear, but their impressive partnership of 42 was cut short by Dilshan Madushanka when Vince was undone by a short ball. Tom Alsop was joined by Jordan Cox in the middle and they put up 22 for the second wicket before Cox was dismissed. Tom Alsop, though, was unperturbed on the other end as he played one of the best innings of his career.
He took the bowlers to the cleaners as the Gulf Giants racked up 88 runs in the first 10 overs, well-poised to chase down the target. Tom Alsop brought up his first fifty in the DP World ILT20 off 44 balls and with the pressure rising, his calm head prevailed as he steered his side closer to the target.
Jordan Cox (8 off 7) and Gerhard Erasmus (10 off 12) soon followed suite courtesy of Adam Zampa and Tim Southee respectively as the Giants suffered yet another top-order blip this ILT20 2025 season. Dangerman Shimron Hetmyer also left his team’s tricky pursuit by becoming Madushanka’s second wicket of the evening as the Giants reached 107-4 in 13.4 overs.
Gerhard Erasmus (10) and Shimron Hetmyer (12) fell without troubling the scorers much and that threatened to derail the Gulf Giants’ chase, but the 16th over swiftly swung the momentum in their favour. Curran chipped in with a couple of boundaries and Tom Alsop dispatched one into the stands as Madushanka conceded 18 and the Gulf Giants needed 40 off 24.
Unbeaten opener Tom Alsop took over the run-scoring onus for his team after forming forces with Tom Curran at 107-4. The two cricketers shared an unbeaten 65-run partnership for the fifth wicket from 35 balls, with Tom Alsop unfurling the innings of the match by scoring 85* from just 60 deliveries.
While Tom Alsop carted seven boundaries and two sixes, Curran clobbered 17-ball 26* to storm the Gulf Giants to a scintillating six-wicket win with three balls to spare. Tom Alsop and Curran were not to be stopped as they motored on, playing sensible cricket to get the job done. They picked on Adam Milne in the 18th over and hit him for 16 runs, as they raced closer to the target. Tom Alsop brought his A-Game to the fore to hit an unbeaten 85* as the Gulf Giants sealed a comprehensive victory in Sharjah.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Tim Southee the loosing SW skipper said : Were in it for a majority of the game. Was a pretty good score. Obviously dewed up a bit. Three games left, hopefully we can salvage something.
James Vince the winning GG skipper said : Was a big weekend for us to get back into the competition. Nice to get back in the mix. Last night when we brought the spinners on we felt conditions weren’t ideal for them. Felt it was the best option for the conditions (all-seam attack). Hopefully we’re building momentum at the right time.
Tom Alsop Player of the Match for his unbeaten 85* said : Nice to spend some time out there. Really nice wicket. Very different conditions last night. Today it was a case of assessing the conditions – was more batter friendly. I think it was little margin for error.
Gulf Giants’ opener Tom Alsop carried his bat through with a match-winning 85 not out off 60 balls to guide his team to a six-wicket win over Sharjah Warriors in ILT20 on Sunday. Chasing a challenging 171 for 6, the Giants reached home in a last-over finish, which saw Tom Curran (26 not out off 17 balls) ably supporting Tom Alsop.
Earlier, Zimbabwean pacer Blessing Muzarabani led the Giants’ bowling attack with a spell of 3 for 32, to restrict the Warriorz to 171 for 6. The Giants’ run-chase got off to a pacy start that saw the opening pair of captain James Vince (24 off 14) and Alsop taking on the new ball in a 42-run stand in 3.4 overs.
Their middle-order, however, couldn’t support Alsop as Jordan Cox was dismissed by Australian spinner Adam Zampa (1 for 25) for 8, while Gerhard Erasmus (10) and Shimron Hetmyer (12) could barely enter double-digits, dismissed by Tim Southee (1 for 27) and Dilshan Madushanka (2 for 49) respectively.
But the pair of Alsop and Curran ensured there were no more hiccups as they stitched together an unbeaten 65-run partnership for the fifth wicket to take their team home in 19.3 overs.
Batting first, the Warriorz’s Jason Roy (44 off 30) held the innings together after a 57-run opening stand between Tom Kohler-Cadmore (29) and Johnson Charles (30). But barring Ashton Agar’s late-order cameo of (23 not out off 13), none of the other batters could make noteworthy contributions. Besides Muzarabani’s three-wicket spell, Daniel Worrall, Mark Adair and Dominic Drakes took one wicket apiece for the Giants.