ABU DHABI: Gulf Giants were forced to dig deep to defeat the MI Emirates by two wickets, in a real nail-biter at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

In the DP World ILT20 clash, t Giants looked down and out at one stage, before their lower order showed nerves of steel to guide the side over the finish line. The win helps Gulf Giants to move to fifth on the points table.

Asked to bat first, MI Emirates had a slow start as they lost the openers Kusal Perera for four and Muhammad Waseem for 12, both to Daniel Worrall, in the powerplay. The in-form Tom Banton then began the job of rebuilding for MI Emirates, hoping for support from his skipper.

But Nicholas Pooran could add only eight to the cause while Dan Mousley added five more, before both were dismissed, leaving MI Emirates in a spot of bother at 57/4. Banton was joined by Kieron Pollard, and they dug in, keeping the scoreboard moving even when the big hits were hard to come by.

Banton completed his half-century in the 15th over, and in the next Pollard took Aayan Khan to the cleaners, smashing three sixes in a 21-run over.

The Bantom fell in the 17th over for 56 and a superb 66-run stand came to an end. The MI Emirates would need a strong finish and along with Pollard, who scored 34, Akeal Hosein and Romario Shepherd added a few lusty blows as well. Hosein finished unbeaten on 20 and Shepherd was not out on eight as MI Emirates reached 151/6 in their 20 overs. Banton’s half-century meant he took over the Green Belt as the highest run-getter in the tournament.

Gulf Giants too could not get off to a fast start, as captain James Vince was the first to fall for one. Soon after, Jordan Cox was packed off for nine, and the Gulf Giants were 20/2 in the fourth over. Tom Alsop was joined by Gerhard Erasmus, and they had to rebuild after the early scares.

Both Alsop and Erasmus avoided the high-risk approach and steadied the ship with a solid half-century stand. The third wicket produced 65 runs for Gulf Giants, who were back in the contest. Alsop was the next to fall for 32 and Erasmus followed shortly after for 37. For MI Emirates, Muhammad Rohid Khan and Alzarri Joseph were doing most of the heavy lifting with the ball.

Shimron Hetmyer and Ibrahim Zadran tried to up the ante after that, but Joseph castled the West Indian southpaw for seven, which put further pressure on the Gulf Giants. Fazalhaq Farooqi cleaned up Zadran for 11 after that, but Tom Curran was soldiering on at the other end for the Giants, who had four wickets left. Curran and Mark Adair were picking some crucial boundaries at this point, and brought the Giants to within 17 runs of the target, with two overs to go.

Farooqi accounted for Adair for 15 in the 19th over, before Aayan Khan combined with Curran and Muhammad Zuhaib to clinch a thrilling win off the final delivery of the game. Khan, who scored an unbeaten 11 off six deliveries, was instrumental in helping his side over the line.

Player of the match Adair said: “It was just about getting the basics right again. Tom Curran came in and shared his experience, and that helped in the crucial moments.”

MI Emirates’ captain Pooran said: “It was a tough one today, we weren't disciplined enough, and paid the price as a team.”

Brief Scores

Gulf Giants beat MI Emirates by two wickets

MI Emirates 151/6 in 20 overs (Tom Banton 56, Kieron Pollard 34, Daniel Worral 2 for 19, Mark Adair 1 for 24, Blessing Muzarabani 1 for 16,)

Gulf Giants 152/8 in 20 overs (Gerhard Erasmus 37, Tom Alsop 32, Tom Curran 16, Fazalhaq Farooqi 3 for 34, Muhammad Rohid Khan 2 for 15)

Player of the Match: Mark Adair

MULTAN, Pakistan: Skipper Kraigg Brathwaite hit a fighting half century Saturday to lead the West Indies to 129-5 at lunch on the second day of the second Test against Pakistan in Multan.

The tourists negotiated Pakistan’s spin attack aggressively to take their slender nine-run first-innings lead to 138 at the break in their bid to pull off a series-levelling win.

Pakistan lead the two-match series 1-0 after winning the first Test by 127 runs, also in Multan.

Left-arm spinner Noman Ali brought Pakistan back in the game with 4-59, trapping Alick Athanaze leg before for six on the cusp of lunch, while Justin Greaves was unbeaten on five.

With the Multan Stadium pitch offering slow spin in comparison to day one, Brathwaite led the way with two sixes and four boundaries in his 31st Test half century.

Noman broke the solid 50-run opening stand by dismissing Mikyle Louis for seven after the tourists started their second innings in the morning.

Brathwaite overturned two leg before decisions against him before he was stumped by Mohammad Rizwan off Noman for a well-made 52.

Debutant Amir Jangoo also batted well for his 30 with three boundaries, before Sajid Khan had him caught in the slips by Salman Agha.

Kavem Hodge was stumped by Rizwan off Noman for 15 as the West Indies slumped from 92-1 to 129-5.