175/8 (19.3)
CR : 8.97
171/6 (20.0)
CR : 8.55
Desert Vipers won by 2 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Shimron Hetmyer
48(25)
11:37 PM IST and 10:07 PM Local Time: A humdinger of an encounter between Desert Vipers and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders has eventually gone into the Vipers' favour. Khuzaima Bin Tanvir deserves the applause as his cameo has brought the Vipers back in the game and they have won it with 3 balls to spare.
Phil Salt and Alex Hales came to open the inning for the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. Salt got out early but Hales got a good half century. He batted well and scored 53 off 37 balls with 4 boundaries and 3 maximums. Alishan Sharafu gave him a good company but ADKR's issue was the departure of Liam Livingstone and Sherfane Rutherford for cheap scores. Andre Russell batted well in the slog overs and remained unbeaten on 36 off 23 balls hitting 3 fours and 2 maximums. Their combined effort powered ADKR to 171/6, a par score in this wicket.
Qais Ahmad and Noor Ahmad took a couple of wickets each. Naseem Shah and Daniel Lawrence took a wicket each for the Desert Vipers.
Desert Vipers got off to a solid start as Andries Gous smacked Olly Stone for four boundaries in the first over to take 19 off it. But ADKR bowlers bowled in a disciplined fashion and removed Gous and Fakhar Zaman. Max Holden also got out for just 1 and that reduced the Vipers to 34/3 in the fifth over.
Sam Curran and Daniel Lawrence then added 32 for the 4th wicket before Curran got out for 19. Things changed when Shimron Hetmyer joined Daniel Lawrence in the crease. Hetmyer started a bit sedately but accelerated fantastically later. He added 68 runs for the 5th wicket with Lawrence and Lawrence got out for a sluggish 35 off 32 balls.
ADKR then opened the floodgates. Ajay Kumar got the wicket of Lawrence and just two balls later he got the better of Hasan Nawaz. Andre Russell enforced a mistimed shot off Hetmyer on 48 to claim his 500th T20 wicket. Olly Stone removed Qais Ahmad and the Vipers were in complete dire straits with 27 needed from 15 balls.
Khuzaima Bin Tanvir then hit Stone for a maximum in the 18th over and later hit Russell a boundary in the 19th over to take the equation down to 8 off 6 balls. Khuzaima then started the over with a maximum and just two balls later, Naseem's on drive trickled away to the long-on fence to mark the Desert Vipers' victory. Khuzaima Bin Tanvir remained unbeaten on 31 off 12 balls, making a difference between the two sides.
Ajay Kumar took 3 wickets for 21 runs in his 4 overs. Sunil Narine picked up 2 wickets for 35 runs. Olly Stone, Andre Russell and Piyush Chawla took a wicket each.
Phil Salt and Alex Hales came to open the inning for the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. Salt got out early but Hales got a good half century. He batted well and scored 53 off 37 balls with 4 boundaries and 3 maximums. Alishan Sharafu gave him a good company but ADKR's issue was the departure of Liam Livingstone and Sherfane Rutherford for cheap scores. Andre Russell batted well in the slog overs and remained unbeaten on 36 off 23 balls hitting 3 fours and 2 maximums. Their combined effort powered ADKR to 171/6, a par score in this wicket.
Qais Ahmad and Noor Ahmad took a couple of wickets each. Naseem Shah and Daniel Lawrence took a wicket each for the Desert Vipers.
Desert Vipers got off to a solid start as Andries Gous smacked Olly Stone for four boundaries in the first over to take 19 off it. But ADKR bowlers bowled in a disciplined fashion and removed Gous and Fakhar Zaman. Max Holden also got out for just 1 and that reduced the Vipers to 34/3 in the fifth over.
Sam Curran and Daniel Lawrence then added 32 for the 4th wicket before Curran got out for 19. Things changed when Shimron Hetmyer joined Daniel Lawrence in the crease. Hetmyer started a bit sedately but accelerated fantastically later. He added 68 runs for the 5th wicket with Lawrence and Lawrence got out for a sluggish 35 off 32 balls.
ADKR then opened the floodgates. Ajay Kumar got the wicket of Lawrence and just two balls later he got the better of Hasan Nawaz. Andre Russell enforced a mistimed shot off Hetmyer on 48 to claim his 500th T20 wicket. Olly Stone removed Qais Ahmad and the Vipers were in complete dire straits with 27 needed from 15 balls.
Khuzaima Bin Tanvir then hit Stone for a maximum in the 18th over and later hit Russell a boundary in the 19th over to take the equation down to 8 off 6 balls. Khuzaima then started the over with a maximum and just two balls later, Naseem's on drive trickled away to the long-on fence to mark the Desert Vipers' victory. Khuzaima Bin Tanvir remained unbeaten on 31 off 12 balls, making a difference between the two sides.
Ajay Kumar took 3 wickets for 21 runs in his 4 overs. Sunil Narine picked up 2 wickets for 35 runs. Olly Stone, Andre Russell and Piyush Chawla took a wicket each.
Time for post match presentation.
Dispatch of the day: Khuzaima Bin Tanvir (For his six in the final over)
Sunil Narine (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders Captain): "I think we were 15-20 runs short. The bowlers did well to hold the batters back specially in the powerplay. It is a pitch where it is not so easy to bat but with the dew set in, it was difficult for the pacers and spinners to hold the ball. But again, this is not the first time we are playing in dew and neither it is the last."
Sam Curran (Desert Vipers Captain): "I guess I think we got a quite lucky escape. Hetti (Shimron Hetmyer) and Dan (Daniel Lawrence) played really well is what I can say. I thought the way they played was really good. Cruising with the bat till the 15th over was a great one. Yes Dan got out but it was a good knock from him. Hetmyer is working with his batting and hard work pays off.
They have such a powerful batting line-up. You have to give credit to our bowlers to restrict them to 171. A little twist happened with Dan and Hettie getting out but it was a great escape."
They have such a powerful batting line-up. You have to give credit to our bowlers to restrict them to 171. A little twist happened with Dan and Hettie getting out but it was a great escape."
Player of the match: Shimron Hetmyer
Shimron Hetmyer (Player of the match): "I have tried to not have the smile while I am batting but it just comes out naturally. Once I give myself a chance, I think I can get to any total. It is always to get one over a fellow Caribbean team mate. But, I was not thinking about it much, while playing. Once I got two sixes, I thought we should move on and rotate strike, as Dan was also hitting really well."
Most Career Wickets in T20 Cricket:
681- Rashid Khan
631- Dwayne Bravo
602- Sunil Narine*
570- Imran Tahir
504- Shakib Al Hasan
500- Andre Russell*
681- Rashid Khan
631- Dwayne Bravo
602- Sunil Narine*
570- Imran Tahir
504- Shakib Al Hasan
500- Andre Russell*
That's it from this fiercely competitive contest between Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and Desert Vipers. Vipers have kept their nerves and completed a thrilling finish to come out victorious. For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on behalf of my co-commentators Utsav Chandak and Deepak Prakash and the scorer/analyst of this game Paras Yadav. Good night.