144/5 (19.3)
CR : 7.38
140/7 (20.0)
CR : 7.00
Desert Vipers won by 5 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Max Holden
65(46)
DV won by 5 wickets
23:31 PM IST, 22:01 PM Local Time: Back-to-back sixes from Hasan Nawaz to finish the match as Desert Vipers beat the Sharjah Warriorz by five wickets. With this result, the Warriorz have also been knocked out of contention for the play-offs.
Chasing 141 for victory, the Vipers were rocked early as Sikandar Raza and Richard Ngarava removed their openers within the first 3 overs. The Vipers shut shop for a while courtesy Max Holden and Sam Curran as the Vipers meandered to 28/2 at the end of six overs. The runs started to come especially from Holden's bat while he stitched a 50-run partnership with Curran.
Sikandar Raza had held back Harmeet Singh as there were two left-handers in the middle. The left-arm spinner proved the theory wrong as he broke the 64-run partnership with his very first ball in the 12th over by getting rid of Curran. The USA International Harmeet went onto dismiss Dan Lawrence and Jason Roy also off the first ball in the following two overs to rock the Vipers. Adil Rashid also bowled in tandem as the Warriorz' spin duo brought down the equation to 40 required off 4 overs.
Rashid finished his spell with a four-run over but the Vipers took 14 runs off Harmeet's final over to relieve some pressure. With 12 runs coming off the penultimate over bowled by Ngarava, the game went to the final over where Nawaz smashed two consecutive sixes to finish the game with three balls to spare.
Earlier in the match, the Warriorz had also lost early wickets as Monank Patel and Tom Abell were sent back by David Payne and Khuzaima Bin Tanvir. Johnson Charles still played with good intent to help his side get to the Powerplay at 45/2. The 62-run stand between Charles and Tom Kohler-Cadmore was broken by Naseem who castled him in the 10th over. The Warriorz soon lost half their side in the 12th over when Qais Ahmad struck back-to-back.
The left-handed duo of James Rew and Ryan Burl chipped in with a few runs but the Vipers' seam bowling pair of Naseem and Sam Curran ensured that the Warriorz ended up with only 140/7 off their 20 overs.
Chasing 141 for victory, the Vipers were rocked early as Sikandar Raza and Richard Ngarava removed their openers within the first 3 overs. The Vipers shut shop for a while courtesy Max Holden and Sam Curran as the Vipers meandered to 28/2 at the end of six overs. The runs started to come especially from Holden's bat while he stitched a 50-run partnership with Curran.
Sikandar Raza had held back Harmeet Singh as there were two left-handers in the middle. The left-arm spinner proved the theory wrong as he broke the 64-run partnership with his very first ball in the 12th over by getting rid of Curran. The USA International Harmeet went onto dismiss Dan Lawrence and Jason Roy also off the first ball in the following two overs to rock the Vipers. Adil Rashid also bowled in tandem as the Warriorz' spin duo brought down the equation to 40 required off 4 overs.
Rashid finished his spell with a four-run over but the Vipers took 14 runs off Harmeet's final over to relieve some pressure. With 12 runs coming off the penultimate over bowled by Ngarava, the game went to the final over where Nawaz smashed two consecutive sixes to finish the game with three balls to spare.
Earlier in the match, the Warriorz had also lost early wickets as Monank Patel and Tom Abell were sent back by David Payne and Khuzaima Bin Tanvir. Johnson Charles still played with good intent to help his side get to the Powerplay at 45/2. The 62-run stand between Charles and Tom Kohler-Cadmore was broken by Naseem who castled him in the 10th over. The Warriorz soon lost half their side in the 12th over when Qais Ahmad struck back-to-back.
The left-handed duo of James Rew and Ryan Burl chipped in with a few runs but the Vipers' seam bowling pair of Naseem and Sam Curran ensured that the Warriorz ended up with only 140/7 off their 20 overs.
Time for post match presentation.
Green Belt (Most Runs Scored): Max Holden
Dispatch of the day: Hasan Nawaz
Sikandar Raza(Sharjah Warriorz Captain): "Pretty much that what could go wrong went wrong. We had 8 changes this season but again, I think we didn't play the kind of cricket that would make us deserve the playoff spot. You cannot expect a new guy to come out and expect the players to adapt to the situations immediately. 150 is the par score of the first innings in this tournament, but what hurts me is that we didn't even score 150 tonight. Harmeet Bhai has suddenly come in and bowled very well, and the bowlers have kept us in the game Some of the batters chipped in as well in phases but it wasn't enough."
Sam Curran (Desert Vipers Captain): "Really nice to get a win ahead of the Play-offs. We bowled really well. Maxy (Max Holden) played very well and then Hasan Nawaz finished it off. It is good that some of the batters had time in the middle.
We will be playing in Abu Dhabi where the pitches should be good. We have won 8 matches in the league stage which hasn't been done before in the ILT20."
We will be playing in Abu Dhabi where the pitches should be good. We have won 8 matches in the league stage which hasn't been done before in the ILT20."
Man of the match : Max Holden
Max Holden (Player of the Match): "I think we played really good cricket throughout the league stage with players coming in at every situations and it feels great to have won 8 games. We have got match winners throughout the line up. Hasan Nawaz also came in really well in the end. We have a range of skills in the line up and that makes us confident in each other's abilities. (On finally hitting a six) Yeah, Sharjah has shorter boundaries and I was finally able to chip one over. Cheers. Thanks."
So, that is it from myself, Karthik Raj and my co-commentator, Utsav as we wrap up the coverage of this fixture. Do stay tuned and join us for more cricketing action on Saturday.