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Australian opener Chris Lynn carried the bat with his unbeaten 72 off 50 balls as the Gulf Giants secured the inaugural International League T20 title at the Dubai International Stadium. Lynn carried the bat for his side as they brushed aside the Desert Vipers by seven wickets.
Chasing 146 for the win after skipper James Vince won the toss and chose to bowl first, the Giants actually started on an inauspicious note when Luke Wood dismissed Vince in the fourth over. Then, Tom Curran scalped the wicket of Colin de Grandhomme as the Giants looked rattled, but Lynn kept his cool.
The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star first built an important 73-run partnership with Namibian wicket-keeping batter Gerhard Erasmus. After Erasmus departed scoring 30 in 33 balls, Lynn joined forces with Shimron Hetmyer for an unbeaten 50-run partnership.
Lynn's 72 runs included nine boundaries and a six. Meanwhile, Hetmyer scored 25 runs off 13 balls.
Earlier, the Vipers got off to a poor start when English opener Alex Hales (1 off 2) was dismissed by Carlos Brathwaite in the second over. Soon fell Rohan Mustafa (6 off 7), after he was run out in the same over with the Vipers now reeling at 13/2. Adam Lyth (13 off 13) soon followed but then wicket-keeping batter Sam Billings and Sri Lanka all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga got the Vipers back in the game with a 72-run partnership.
Billings departed eventually for 31 runs after being dismissed by Braithwaite, while Hasaranga completed his half-century before Qais Ahmad got his wicket for 55 runs in 27 deliveries. Ahmed then dismissed Luke Wood, before Braithwaite cleaned up England's Tom Curran as Desert Vipers ended their innings with 146/8 after 20 overs.
