Sharjah Warriorz remain winless in the International League T20 after they lost by six wickets to Gulf Giants.
The tournament’s bottom side have now lost their opening three fixtures, with Giants chasing down a target of 159 with two balls to spare.
Opener Johnson Charles and Dwaine Pretorius were joint top-scorers for the defeated side, each making 36, and the latter put on an unbroken stand of 38 with Adil Rashid as Warriorz closed on 157-6 having been put into bat.
United Arab Emirates spinner Aayan Afzal Khan took 3-17 for Giants, picking up the wickets of Charles, Kusal Mendis (23) and the big-hitting Tim David (19).
In reply, the second-placed side looked to be cruising to victory, with James Vince (35) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz putting on 78 for the first wicket.
By the time Vince was caught by Wasim Akram off Sikandar Raza, Giants were almost half-way to their target in the eighth over, but from that point their scoring slowed.
Rashid bowled his podcast co-host and former international team-mate Moeen Ali for 14, while Gurbaz’s input ended on a 36-ball 50 when he was removed by Raza.
Azmatullah Omarzai (28) and Gerhard Erasmus (15 not out) then worked steadily towards their target, and while the former was caught in Tim Southee’s final over, Sean Dickson hit the winning run two balls later.