After suffering a painful hamstring injury that forced him to leave the field, the Guyanese batsman returned to rescue his team smashing 37 off 19 deliveries including three consecutive sixes off David Wiese.
His heroics would help propel Desert Vipers to 178-7, which proved to be enough as the Vipers dismissed Gulf Giants for 159 in 19.4 overs.
During an interview on the Vipers Voices Podcast afterwards, Rutherford said he knew it was going to be his last game but he wanted to make an impact on the game and help his team.
“It was my idea (to go back out and bat). When I went in (after being injured), I asked my physio if I could go back and bat. He said no and that it was better I just relax,” he explained.
“I told him I could do it, and then he said he was going to discuss it with the coach. At that time Tom Moody was passing by and he said, ‘If he (Rutherford) wants to bat, let us trust him.’ I also knew it was going to be my last game (in the tournament) and I wanted to give it my all, and hopefully I could make an impact for the team.”
After arriving at the crease, he revealed his intentions to Tom Curran, his partner with whom he put on 52 runs which ultimately changed the direction of the match.
“I knew I could not run, so I said (to Tom Curran) that I was going to try and get boundaries. So, I think that’s where we won the game,” Rutherford said.
Romario Shepherd had an excellent all-round performance to lead MI Emirates to a 28-run win over the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in International League T20 (ILT20) action at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Tom Banton and Andre Fletcher produced a pair of excellent performances with the bat as the MI Emirates produced a demolition over the Desert Vipers in International League T20 (ILT20) action on Monday. Banton hit his second hundred of the tournament while Fletcher fell four runs shy of an unbeaten hundred as the Emirates beat the Vipers by a mammoth 154 runs at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
The MI Emirates rebounded from an opening game defeat at the hands of the Dubai Capitals on Saturday with a 26-run win over the same opposition on Monday to get their first points of the 2025 International League T20 (ILT20) season on Monday.
Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been appointed as Head Coach of the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders for the 2025 International league T20 (ILT20) season, the team announced on Saturday.
The Emirates first posted 180-4 from their 20 overs after the Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field first.
The UAE’s Muhammad Waseem top scored with a 43-ball 60 including one four and six sixes while captain Kieron Pollard continued his excellent form throughout the season with 43 off just 17 deliveries including four fours and three sixes.
The Knight Riders reply fell short by 18 runs despite a top score of 42 from 22 balls from Andre Russell. His knock included five fours and two sixes.
Dwayne Bravo took 3-37 from his four overs while Imran Tahir and Zahoor Khan took two wickets each.
The Emirates have now booked a spot in the playoffs with a game to spare in the league phase.
Scores: MI Emirates 180-4 off 20 overs (Muhammad Waseem 60, Kieron Pollard 43) Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 162 off 19.2 overs (Andre Russell 42, Joe Clarke 22, Dwayne Bravo 3-37, Imran Tahir 2-20, Zahoor Khan 2-33).
The heroic Barbadian, whose four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes won the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup for the West Indies, took 3-19 and ran out opener Rohan Mustafa for just six to restrict Desert Vipers to 146-8 from their 20 overs.
He removed the dangerous Alex Hales for one, took the catch to dismiss Adam Lyth for 13, dismissed Sam Billings for 31, breaking the 72-run fifth wicket partnership with Wanindu Hasaranga, whose 55 from 27 balls propped up Desert Vipers, before returning to take the wicket of Tom Curran in the 19th over.
Qias Ahmad supported Brathwaite with the wickets of Hasaranga and Luke Wood for three to finish with figures of 2-29. Chris Jordan caught and bowled the dangerous Colin Munro for just six.
Chasing 147 for victory, Gulf Giants’s Chris Lyn scored an unbeaten 72 from 50 balls and 30 from Gerhard Erasmus before Hetmyer arrived with the final dagger, smashing 25 not out from 13 balls with five fours to propel Gulf Giants to the title with eight balls to spare.
Johnson Charles hit a belligerent 71 to help the Sharjah Warriorz defeat the Dubai Capitals by nine wickets in International League T20 (ILT20) action at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. Charles’ knock came off just 33 balls and included three fours and eight massive sixes as the Warriorz needed just 11.5 overs to overhaul a target of 132, reaching 135-1.
The Sharjah Warriorz defeated the MI Emirates by six wickets in the International League T20 (ILT20) eliminator at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Thursday. St. Lucian Johnson Charles made 36 off 20 balls including seven fours and a six to help the Warriors reach 149-4 in 18.5 overs chasing down 147 for victory.
The Capitals made a respectable 170-7 from their 20 overs after being asked to bat first by the Warriors.
Englishman Sam Billings led the way for Dubai with 52 while Zimbabwean Sikandar Raza hit 48 against 3-28 from Australian Daniel Sams and a pair of wickets, each, for Chris Woakes (2-21) and Maheesh Theekshana (2-32).
The Warriors then reached 171-5 with seven balls to spare to seal the win.
Charles needed only 51 balls to make 93, hitting eight fours and three sixes in the process.
He was supported by some good late cameos by Basil Hameed (24*) and Daniel Sams (16*).
Dushmantha Chameera led the way with the ball for the Capitals with 4-28 from his four overs.
A second consecutive fifty from Johnson Charles propelled the Sharjah Warriorz to a four-wicket win over the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in International League T20 (ILT20) action at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Charles followed up his 70 against the Dubai Capitals on Tuesday with 65 off 35 balls at the top of the order to help the Warriorz successfully chase down a target of 162 in 19 overs.
As they did in Qualifier 1, the Desert Vipers and the Dubai Capitals will lock horns once again, this time to determine the champion of the 2025 International League T20 (ILT20), after the Vipers secured a seven-wicket win over the Sharjah Warriorz in Qualifier 2 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday.
The Dubai Capitals advanced to the final of the 2025 ILT20 after securing a five-wicket victory over the Desert Vipers on Wednesday. Despite the win, West Indies stars Rovman Powell and Shai Hope had minimal contributions in the match.
Gerhard Erasmus and Shimron Hetmyer played starring roles to lead the Gulf Giants to their first win of this season’s International League T20 (ILT20) on Saturday.
Fakhar Zaman’s 67 and a rapid 21* off just eight balls from Sherfane Rutherford propelled the Desert Vipers to their third win in a row to begin the 2025 International league T20 (ILT20) season.
MI Emirates scored 241-3 from their 20 overs before skittling the Desert Vipers out for just 84.
Fletcher scored his 50 from 39 balls in a 141-run opening partnership with Player of the Match Mohammad Waseem, who hit 11 fours and two sixes in his top score of 86.
Fletcher’s dismissal in the 13th over saw ME Emirates slip from 141-0 to 152 for 3 as Waseem was next to go in the 15th over with big hitter Najibullah Zadran going two balls later for a duck.
Enter Captain Pollard who smashed his 50 from just 19 balls while he and Dan Mousley mounted an unbeaten stand of 89 in 32 balls to propel MI Emirates to their daunting total.
Pollard’s unbeaten 50 contained four fours and four sixes while Mously contributed a valuable 31 from just 17 balls with three fours and two sixes.
Tom Curran, who had the wickets of Waseem and Zadran was expensive yielding 63 runs from his four overs.
The pressure of the score proved too much for the Vipers. They crumbled in the face of the bowling of Fazalhaq Farooqi who took 3-18, Zahoor Khan 1-9 and Imran Tahir, who wrapped up the match with 2-18 in 3.1 overs.
With their fourth win in seven games, MI Emirates are third in the six-team standings with nine points, one behind Gulf Giants and Desert Vipers, who still lead despite the loss.
With the win Gulf Giants booked a place in Sunday’s 2023 ILT20 final where they will face Desert Vipers.
Coming off their emphatic eight-wicket victory over Dubai Capitals on Thursday MI Emirates looked a jaded team, scoring 167-5 from their 20 overs.
Pollard scored an unbeaten 57 from 35 balls while Nicholas Pooran contributed with 29 and opener Mohammad Waseem, 31.
Chris Jordan took 2-25 and David Wiese 2-31.
In reply, James Vince played a gem of an innings, scoring unbeaten 83 including the winning runs, a four off Fazalhaq Farooqi as Gulf Giants scored 168-6 from 18.1 overs.
Farooqi took 2-27 and Rashid Khan, 2-40 in the losing cause. Dwayne Bravo took 1-27.
Shimron Hetmyer contributed a quick 20* off 11 balls to help the Gulf Giants pull off a comfortable seven-wicket win over the struggling Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in International League T20 (ILT20) action at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Hetmyer scored 70 from just 35 balls as Gulf Giants scored 196-5 to win with three balls to spare. Despite the impressive knock from the Guyanese batsman, he did not do it alone as Chris Lynn was equally impressive scoring 71 from 42 balls in the winning effort.
Lynn and Hetmyer’s partnership of 117 from 56 balls helped get Gulf Giants’ chase back on track after they had lost Tom Banton, James Vince and Rehan Amhed for three, four and one, respectively, with only 30 runs on the board.
Hetmyer was eventually dismissed in the 14th over having hit five sixes and five fours. Lynn fell in the 17th leaving the dependable David Weise and Liam Dawson to take the Giants to victory.
Weise was unbeaten on 22 from 19 balls while Dawson was not out on 16 from just nine balls in the end.
Sheldon Cottrell was the best of the Vipers’ bowlers with 2-24 from his four overs.
Earlier, Vipers owed their challenging total to Alex Hales 99 from just 57 balls. He hit 10 fours and five sixes in his knock and got support from Colin Munro, who scored 39 from 23 balls and Sherfane Rutherford, who contributed 27 from 15 balls as Desert Vipers scored 195-4 from their allotment.
It proved to be a tough target but one that Hetmyer and Lynn were able to achieve.
Shimron Hetmyer’s Gulf Giants secured a tense last-ball win over the MI Emirates in International League T20 (ILT20) action at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Saturday.