Sherfane Rutherford continued his recent good form with an 18-ball 40* to help the Desert Vipers record a comfortable six wicket win over Shimron Hetmyer’s Gulf Giants in International League T20 (ILT20) action at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Rutherford hit three fours and three sixes while sharing in a match-winning 55-run fifth-wicket partnership with fellow left-hander Sam Curran who top scored with a patient 43-ball 42* including four fours and a six.
Chasing just 120 for victory, the Vipers reached 121-4 with two balls remaining in the 18th over.
Mark Adair was the only Giants bowler who had any real success on the day with 2-12 from his four overs.
Earlier, the Giants were restricted to 119-9 from their 20 overs after Vipers captain Lockie Ferguson won the toss and chose to field first.
James Vince played a lone hand with 76* off 62 balls including five fours and two sixes. Aayan Afzal Khan was the only other batsman to get into double figures with 15 as captain Ferguson’s pace was too much to handle for the batsmen as he finished with 3-22 from his four overs.
He was well supported by Mohammad Amir who took 2-23 from his four overs.
A second win in as many games moves the Vipers to the top of the table while the Giants are second from bottom after their second loss to start the season. Sportsmax
