DV vs GGT Match Preview
The Vipers have won each of their last two matches and will be hoping to carry forward the winning momentum. Alex Hales has been in sublime form this season, scoring 439 runs, and is the top-scorer of the tournament. The middle-order batsmen, including captain Colin Munro, Sam Billings, and Sherfane Rutherford, have played some good innings but more will be expected of them in this key encounter.
Rohan Mustafa has been a decent all-rounder, picking up 3 wickets and scoring 131 runs. The bowling has been much stronger, as both their seamers, Sheldon Cottrell and Gus Atkinson, are in excellent form. In the spin department, Wanindu Hasaranga has picked up 11 wickets.
He, along with Cottrell, is among the top-3 wicket-takers of the tournament.
James Vince has by far been the best batsman in the Gulf Giants squad, scoring 3 half-centuries in 6 innings and scoring a total of 255 runs. Shimron Hetmeyer and Chris Lynn put up a brilliant 117-run partnership in the Giants’ earlier encounter against the Vipers, with both scoring half-centuries. However, other batsmen, including Tom Banton and Gerhard Erasmus have been found to struggle.
Just like their opponents, the bowling has been one of the biggest reasons for the Giants’ success this season. Chris Jordan has picked up 13 wickets so far and is the leading wicket-taker for the tournament. He has received good support from David Weise as well as Rehan Ahmed. Richard Gleeson and Sanchit Sharma too have chipped in.
Weather Report
The weather is expected to be clear with plenty of sunshine and temperature remaining around 22 degrees Celsius.
Pitch Report
The Dubai International Stadium has a flat pitch which is excellent to bat on and has produced some high-scoring encounters till now. There is little help for the quicker bowlers but the spinners do see some amount of spin as the game progresses. This being a Day match, dew will not be a factor here.
Notable stats
Sherfane Rutherford's Superb Strike Rate
Sherfane Rutherford can be quite a devastating lower-order batsman when he gets going. This season, he has scored 208 runs at an excellent strike rate of 189.09.
Team News
Both teams are coming into this game on the back of victories. With no injuries to report, we do not expect them to make any changes in their playing eleven.
DV vs GGT Probable 11
DV Playing 11
- Rohan Mustafa
- Alex Hales
- Colin Munro (C)
- Sam Billings (Wk)
- Sherfane Rutherford
- Wanindu Hasaranga
- Tom Curran
- Gus Atkinson
- Luke Wood
- Sheldon Cottrell
- Shiraz Ahmed
GGT Playing 11
- James Vince (C)
- Chris Lynn
- Tom Banton (Wk)
- Shimron Hetmeyer
- Afzal Khan
- David Weise
- Gerhard Erasmus
- Rehan Ahmed
- Chris Jordan
- Dominic Drakes
- Sanchit Sharma
Dream11 Prediction
Both teams have performed well throughout this season and are among the top contenders to lift the inaugural ILT20 title. However, for this match, we feel that the Desert Vipers hold a slight edge over their opponents, thanks to a stronger batting line-up. The Vipers also have some good all-rounders in the squad, like Sherfane Rutherford and Rohan Mustafa, who are capable of making a big impact on the proceedings.
We are therefore backing the Vipers to win here.
Top Picks
Alex Hales: Hales has inarguably been the best batsman of this tournament. He has scored 4 half-centuries and a century so far and has an average of 62.71.
Wanindu Hasaranga: The leg-spinner from the Vipers can be quite effective on the slow pitch at Dubai. He has picked up 11 wickets in 7 matches so far and is quite economical too, giving away just 6.92 runs an over.
Chris Jordan: Jordan has been one of the most important bowlers in the Gulf Giants squad. He bowled a brilliant spell of 3 wickets for 12 runs in the last match, taking his total tally for the season to 13.
DV vs GGT Dream11 Team 1
Keeper: S Billings
Batters: J Vince, A Hales (C), C Munro, S Rutherford
All-rounders: D Wiese (VC), T Curran, W Hasaranga
Bowlers: C Jordan, R Ahmed, S Cottrell
