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 Alsop.
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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 Gerhad 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.