Gulf Giants Development victory over the ILT20 Marvels.

Gulf Giants Development victory over the ILT20 Marvels.

Dubai, Sports Link

The DP World ILT20 Development Tournament 2024 commenced on Sunday (6 October) at the ICC Academy Oval 1, 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 (two squad spots up for grabs in each team).

Vriitya Arvind led Gulf Giants Development to a mammoth 56-run victory over the ILT20 Marvels. Arvind’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.