Vriitya Aravind dazzles as Gulf Giants Development win at DP World ILT20 Development Tournament

The DP World ILT20 Development Tournament 2024 got under way on Sunday at the ICC Academy Oval 1 in Dubai. The second edition of the development tournament provides the UAE players an opportunity of sealing one of the 12 remaining berths in the six DP World ILT20 Season 3 squads.

On Monday evening, Vriitya Aravind led Gulf Giants Development to a mammoth 56-run victory over the ILT20 Marvels. Aravind’s unbeaten knock of 77 runs in 64 balls placed the Giants at 165/4 in 20 overs. Aryan Lakra was also in fine form, striking three fours and three sixes to score 37 runs in only 18 balls.

The Marvels’ run chase struggled due to the loss of early wickets and the lack of partnerships. Madhav Manoj Nair top scored for the Marvels with a cautious 27-run innings, but the Giants shone with the ball as well, as Zeeshan Naseer picked up three wickets while Muhammad Saghit Khan and Muhammad Zuhaib scalped two wickets each. The Marvels finished at 109/10 in 17.4 overs.

Earlier in the day, ILT20 Pearls put on 160/6 in 20 overs to outshine ILT20 Thunderbolts by 16 runs. The Pearls batted first and rode on the back of Asif Khan’s 41 and small but significant contributions from Rohan Mustafa, Yasir Kaleem and Shahrukh Ahmed. Meanwhile Abdul Ghaffar scalped three wickets for the Thunderbolts.

Abdul Ghaffar also made an impact with the bat putting on a late innings show of 23 runs in 12 balls, before he would become Muhammad Shahid Bhutta’s third victim of the night. Uzair Khan also picked up three wickets while Matiullah Khan bagged two wickets to limit the Thunderbolts response to 144/10.

On Sunday, the season opener saw ILT20 Marvels defeat Desert Vipers Development by 17 runs. Batting first, Vishnu Sukumaran and Ahmed Tariq put on an early stand of 36 runs, after the loss of both openers.

Sharp bowling from the Vipers buoyed by strong spells from Khuzaima Tanveer and Basil Hameed who picked up three and two wickets respectively, kept the Marvels in check.

It was Sanchit Sharma’s quickfire knock of 48 runs that came in as little as 22 balls to catapult the Marvels to a competitive 138/10 in 20 overs.

In response, the Vipers’ top order was severely dented by spells from Muhammad Rohid Khan and Zahoor Khan. Tanish Suri put on a fighting 42 in 39 balls, along with contributions from Danny Pawson, who scored 23 runs and Junaid Shamsu’s unbeaten 25. However, the Vipers finished short at 121/8 in 20 overs.

In Sunday’s second fixture, Dubai Capitals Development kicked off their campaign with a 15-run victory over Gulf Giants Development. Put in first, Capitals’ openers, Mayank and Khalid Shah put on 44 runs in the first five overs.

Coming in at number four, Junaid Khan hoisted four maximums in his 48-run endeavour as he set the platform for Hafiz Almas Ayub and Muhammad Farooq Momand. The pair provided the final flourish with 24 runs in only eight balls.

The Giants’ run chase struggled to find momentum as they lost wickets at regular intervals and stumbled to 61/5 in 10.1 overs. Muhammad Saghit Khan fought back with a 19-ball stint of 41 runs and put on 65 runs with Aayan Afzal Khan but the Giants were bowled out for 143 runs.

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