The DP World ILT20 Development tournament was a memorable one for the Gulf Giants as they claimed the title, defeating the Pearls by 6 wickets in the final on 16th October 2024. It was one of their best performances, chasing down a challenging target of 185 with 6 balls to spare.

The Pearls posted 185 runs in the first innings, and we chased it down with Shival Bawa leading the way with an unbeaten 63 off 48 balls. Hameed Khan and Muhammad Saghir Khan also played crucial knocks, scoring 27 off 13 balls and 33 off 11 balls, respectively, to seal the win.

Our tournament journey began with a tough loss to the Dubai Capitals Development Squad by 15 runs. However, we bounced back in our second game, defeating the Marvels by 56 runs. We comfortably won against the Desert Vipers Development Squad in our third game and were on track for a semi-final spot. Unfortunately, we lost our next two matches—first to the Thunders by 8 runs, and then to the Pearls by 8 wickets. Despite these setbacks, we managed to secure a spot in the semi-finals in fourth place.

In the semi-final against the ILT20 Thunderbolts, we witnessed an unforgettable performance. The Thunderbolts put up 216 for 4 in their 20 overs, with Raees Ahmed scoring a brilliant century. In response, we were struggling at 37 for 4, but Hameed Khan's quick 42 off 19 balls gave us hope. Aryan Lakra added 24 runs, and Uzair Haidar Naheed Ullah played a key role with 49 off 24 balls. Muhammad Saghir Khan’s 30 off 12 balls and Zuhaib Zubair’s 33 off 16 balls helped us chase the target, winning by 2 wickets with one ball remaining.

Throughout the tournament, Vriitya Arvind was our top run-scorer, amassing 243 runs in 7 games at an average of 40.50. Zeeshan Naseer was the standout bowler, taking 10 wickets in 7 matches. It was an outstanding effort by our young team, and we’re hopeful of winning our second ILT20 title in 2025.