Sharjah, 16 February 2024: The Gulf Giants faced elimination from the DP World ILT20 Season 2 after a loss to the Dubai Capitals in their Qualifier 2 clash at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday. The side needed to defend 138 runs for the victory. The Adani Sportsline-owned Giants fought hard during the match, but eventually lost the match in the 18th over.
After the match, star pacer Chris Jordan spoke about how proud he was of his team, “It took a lot to come into back-to-back games and try to pick ourselves back up, but we had to do it. I’m proud of the team because we came through adversity early in the season. But we went on a good run and played some good cricket during our campaign. I am proud especially of the younger guys for finding solutions and working things out.”
The Englishman saved special praise for their two young UAE spinners in the side — Aayan Afzal Khan and Zuhaib Zubair, “I can’t look past our two young spinners, Aayan and Zuhaib. The way they have stood up this season, playing against some of the best players in the world, is incredible. They have been a big part of us turning things around, making an impact and that’s all you can ask from youngsters.
Jordan also wanted to share his appreciation about the DP World ILT20 season 2, and is already looking forward to the next season, “The standard has gone to another level this year, which is great to see because up until the last game, every single team was in the tournament.
“This is great for the tournament and for the competitiveness because there is no dead game, so every single game counts. It’s brilliant to see the organisation off the field and the way everything was run. You can’t ask for more. Obviously, we ourselves as a group will debrief and work on the areas that we can improve off the field,” he concluded.