Lynn fires Gulf Giants to inaugural ILT20 title

|| CF DESK ||

The first International League T20 championship was won by Gulf Giants as Chris Lynn played the highlight inning.

After the Desert Vipers were held to 146 for 8, Lynn scored a brutal half-century to lead the Giants to a seven-wicket victory with eight balls remaining.

In his unbeaten 72 off 50 balls, the Australian hit nine fours and a six, giving his team a well-deserved victory. All season, the Giants only suffered one loss.

After the Giants cheaply lost James Vince (14) and Colin de Grandhomme (1), Lynn teamed up with first Shimron Hetmyer and then Gerhard Erasmus to get his team home.

After the Giants stumbled to 26 for 2, he and Erasmus (30) put on 73 runs in 10.2 overs for the third wicket to stabilize the innings before a fourth-wicket stand of exactly 50 runs with Hetmyer (25*) completed the task.

At the Dubai International Stadium earlier, De Grandhomme and Carlos Brathwaite excelled with the ball as the Vipers struggled to find their rhythm.

De Grandhomme's four overs only yielded 18 runs and saw the removal of Adam Lyth, while Brathwaite had outstanding 3-for-18 figures from his four overs.

The destructive Alex Hales as well as the English duo Sam Billings and Tom Curran were Brathwaite's victims, which added even more significance to the performance.

Vipers slipped to 44 for 4 midway through the ninth over, and looked like capitulating. But for the fifth-wicket partnership of Billings and Wanindu Hasaranga, they may have. The pair added 72 before Billings departed for 31.

Hasaranga went on to complete his half-century but was dismissed with the first ball of the 16th over, by Qais Ahmad.

It was a critical moment. Had the Sri Lankan remained at the crease, a score of considerably more substance would have been possible. As it was, even another 30 runs might not have been enough.