Hetmyer shines, Powell struggles as Giants remain unbeaten
Shimron Hetmyer tasted form for the first time but his West Indies counterpart Rovman Powell perished for a three-ball ‘duck’ as Gulf Giants logged their third win in as many matches with a crushing 101-run victory over Dubai Capitals yesterday.
Sent in at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Giants racked up 181 for six from their 20 overs, captain James Vince extending his excellent form with 76 from 48 deliveries and the left-handed Hetmyer smacking a 19-ball unbeaten 37.
Powell grabbed a single wicket from his two overs, which yielded 14 runs while his West Indies teammate and fellow Jamaican, left-arm spinner Fabian Allen, went wicket-less from three overs which leaked 38 runs.
In reply, Capitals folded meekly for 80 in 14.3 overs, Dasun Shanaka, who got 23 runs and Englishman Joe Root with 20 the only two to reach double figures, as former Barbados seamer Chris Jordan – who now represents England – scythed through the innings with three for 12 from 2.3 overs.
Pacer David Wiese, a familiar face in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), picked up three for three from two overs.
Giants top the standings with six points while Capitals languish one from the bottom of the six-team table with a single win from three games.
Eighteen-year-old Englishman Rehan Ahmed fell cheaply for 12 but Vince came to his side’s rescue in an 82-run, second-wicket stand with Chris Lynn, who made 25.
He thumped four fours and four sixes before he was fourth out in the 15th over, skying to Root in the deep and when Wiese fell to the next delivery, the innings slumped at 121 for five.
However, Hetmyer led a late-order revival, lashing two fours and three sixes in a 54run, sixth-wicket stand with Englishman Liam Dawson, who made 18.
Robin Uthappa then fell in the first over of the run chase for one with two runs on the board but there was still no indication of a collapse as Root and Chirag Suri, who contributed six added 27 for the second wicket – the best stand of the innings.
But Wiese hit Suri in front in the fifth over and then pouched a return catch off Powell off the final ball of the over to set in train Capitals’ demise.