116/9 (19.5)
CR : 5.85
112/6 (20.0)
CR : 5.60
Desert Vipers won by 1 wicket 🏆
Player of the Match
Rilee Rossouw
50(31)
Scores level now. Nathan Smith on strike.
19.5
4
Brody Couch to Nathan Smith
NATHAN SMITH hits the winning runs for the Vipers. Scorchers are out of the tournament!!! Full and slower one, outside off. Smith heaves it across the line. Not from the middle of the bat but has enough power behind it to take it to the ropes. A low-scoring thriller comes to an end, with the Vipers getting home by the barest of margins!
Over 20
Desert Vipers 116/9
Nathan Smith5(2)
Vitel Lawes8(7)
Brody Couch1-15(1.5)
DV won by 1 wicket
07:54 AM IST, 10:24 PM Local Time: What a confident way from Nathan Smith to finish a nervy match as Desert Vipers get their second win of the tournament. A proper nerve-wracking one-wicket victory with just a ball to spare to knock out the Perth Scorchers XI from this competition.
Chasing 113 for victory, the Vipers didn't get off to a good start as Saiteja Mukkamalla swung and missed plenty of times before he was eventually sent back by Brody Couch for 4 (12) in the third over. Zachary Carter also struggled but Rilee Rossouw counter-attacked to get some runs in the Powerplay. The Vipers still found themselves reeling at the end of the Powerplay at 31/3 as Akeal Hosein got the better of Carter and Shadab Khan off back-to-back deliveries.
The score soon turned to 46/4 when Kyle Mayers was trapped in front by Sufiyan Muqeem. At one end, Rossouw get blazing away by making clever use of the feet against the spinners. The South African batter went onto reach his 2nd fifty of the season but he got out immediately after that to become Akeal Hosein's third victim. A couple of overs later, Vriitya Aravind who had done decently to rotate strike until then got run-out by Brody Couch as the Perth Scorchers XI refused to give up.
Then, Khary Pierre and Bevon Jacobs combined to stitch a mini partnership which calmed down the nerves. Yet, there was another twist in the tale as Pierre was run-out and then Akeal castled Jacobs in the space of three balls in the 18th over. The Scorchers probably got ahead in the contest for a little while when Sanjay Pahal drove a full delivery straight to short extra-cover in the penultimate over as the Vipers lost their ninth wicket. With six needed off the final over, Vitel Lawes struck a boundary off the very first ball before taking a single on the fourth delivery to let Nathan Smith score the winning boundary with utmost confidence.
Earlier in the match, the Scorchers were rocked early as Khary Pierre and Nathan Smith dismissed D'Arcy Short and Joel Curtis respectively. The scoring was incredibly difficult as the Scorchers got to only 32/2 at the end of the Powerplay. Immediately as the field spread out, Usman Khan holed out to deep mid-wicket to become Pierre's second scalp. Akeal Hosein got a promotion to No.5 as the Scorchers tried to use the right-left combination to get a move on.
But there was still no improvement in the scoring as both Andre Fletcher and Akeal struggled to time the ball. Fletcher made 40 off 47 before getting out to Vitel Lawes in the 14th over. The left-arm wrist-spinner struck again a couple of deliveries later to send back the Scorchers captain, Ashton Turner for a two-ball duck. The Vipers skipper, Shadab Khan also got into the wickets in the final over of his spell as Dian Forrester perished in the process of going big. It was only Ashton Agar who managed to connect a couple of big shots while Akeal Hosein ended up unbeaten on 32 off 35 balls with the Scorchers finishing on 112/6!
Chasing 113 for victory, the Vipers didn't get off to a good start as Saiteja Mukkamalla swung and missed plenty of times before he was eventually sent back by Brody Couch for 4 (12) in the third over. Zachary Carter also struggled but Rilee Rossouw counter-attacked to get some runs in the Powerplay. The Vipers still found themselves reeling at the end of the Powerplay at 31/3 as Akeal Hosein got the better of Carter and Shadab Khan off back-to-back deliveries.
The score soon turned to 46/4 when Kyle Mayers was trapped in front by Sufiyan Muqeem. At one end, Rossouw get blazing away by making clever use of the feet against the spinners. The South African batter went onto reach his 2nd fifty of the season but he got out immediately after that to become Akeal Hosein's third victim. A couple of overs later, Vriitya Aravind who had done decently to rotate strike until then got run-out by Brody Couch as the Perth Scorchers XI refused to give up.
Then, Khary Pierre and Bevon Jacobs combined to stitch a mini partnership which calmed down the nerves. Yet, there was another twist in the tale as Pierre was run-out and then Akeal castled Jacobs in the space of three balls in the 18th over. The Scorchers probably got ahead in the contest for a little while when Sanjay Pahal drove a full delivery straight to short extra-cover in the penultimate over as the Vipers lost their ninth wicket. With six needed off the final over, Vitel Lawes struck a boundary off the very first ball before taking a single on the fourth delivery to let Nathan Smith score the winning boundary with utmost confidence.
Earlier in the match, the Scorchers were rocked early as Khary Pierre and Nathan Smith dismissed D'Arcy Short and Joel Curtis respectively. The scoring was incredibly difficult as the Scorchers got to only 32/2 at the end of the Powerplay. Immediately as the field spread out, Usman Khan holed out to deep mid-wicket to become Pierre's second scalp. Akeal Hosein got a promotion to No.5 as the Scorchers tried to use the right-left combination to get a move on.
But there was still no improvement in the scoring as both Andre Fletcher and Akeal struggled to time the ball. Fletcher made 40 off 47 before getting out to Vitel Lawes in the 14th over. The left-arm wrist-spinner struck again a couple of deliveries later to send back the Scorchers captain, Ashton Turner for a two-ball duck. The Vipers skipper, Shadab Khan also got into the wickets in the final over of his spell as Dian Forrester perished in the process of going big. It was only Ashton Agar who managed to connect a couple of big shots while Akeal Hosein ended up unbeaten on 32 off 35 balls with the Scorchers finishing on 112/6!
Player of the Match: Rilee Rossouw
Rilee Rossuow (POTM): [Did he think it would be such a thriller?] Yeah, you never know what to expect here in Guyana. At the half-way mark with 113 to get, you feel like wow you will surely win but they bowled exceptionally well. We, too, played some poor shots to get ourselves into that situation.
[On his knock] I thought it was my day, and I took on the spinners, and everything came off on a tricky surface. I am happy to make it to the playoffs. The calf is good, just a bit of old age (chuckles)."
[On his knock] I thought it was my day, and I took on the spinners, and everything came off on a tricky surface. I am happy to make it to the playoffs. The calf is good, just a bit of old age (chuckles)."
Ashton Turner (Perth Scorchers XI Captain): "[On the result] I mean it is disappointing. Been poor in all the three games. We have had glimpses of good cricket from individuals.
[On the conditions] Probably, it is tougher than you get anywhere else in T20 cricket but we pride ourselves on adapting to conditions.
[Was there a total in mind when they were batting] Yeah, 160, 170 but we kept adjusting after every over. It is a pretty average T20 surface but both teams have to play on the same pitch.
[What they need to do to win the last game] We would have to probably find a way to get over 130. Every game we have played so far has been low-scoring. We need to lower our expectations. Seems crazy but if we got to 130, it would have been game. We would probably to need scrape harder and lower our expectations as we have a pretty good bowling attack."
[On the conditions] Probably, it is tougher than you get anywhere else in T20 cricket but we pride ourselves on adapting to conditions.
[Was there a total in mind when they were batting] Yeah, 160, 170 but we kept adjusting after every over. It is a pretty average T20 surface but both teams have to play on the same pitch.
[What they need to do to win the last game] We would have to probably find a way to get over 130. Every game we have played so far has been low-scoring. We need to lower our expectations. Seems crazy but if we got to 130, it would have been game. We would probably to need scrape harder and lower our expectations as we have a pretty good bowling attack."
Shadab Khan (Desert Vipers Captain): "[Thoughts on the game] It was a really close game. We were not really thinking of finishing the game early, but assessing the conditions and reacting to what's in front of us.
Credit to my teammates; they showed game awareness and then a lack of game awareness and didn't take the best options under pressure.
[On the surface] The pitch was not that bad, but I feel that both sides didn't play well on it. I am very, very happy to be in the playoffs, but one area where we can improve is fielding. We are looking forward to our next game."
Credit to my teammates; they showed game awareness and then a lack of game awareness and didn't take the best options under pressure.
[On the surface] The pitch was not that bad, but I feel that both sides didn't play well on it. I am very, very happy to be in the playoffs, but one area where we can improve is fielding. We are looking forward to our next game."
So, that is it from myself, Karthik Raj and my co-commentator, Ajay as we wrap up the coverage of this fixture. A note of thanks to our scorer, Bishal Mandal as well. Take a break and join us for a lot more cricketing action later today. Until then, it is a warm good-bye from us.