DUBAI: The Desert Vipers got back to winning ways in season three of the DP World ILT20 with a massive 10-wicket victory over the Sharjah Warriorz at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday.
The Desert Vipers rode on Fakhar Zaman’s unbeaten 71 and Mohammad Amir’s four-wicket haul to consolidate their position atop the standings.
The Desert Vipers wasted no time in their chase as Alex Hales got them off to a flyer with a flurry of boundaries. He clobbered Tim Southee for three fours and then smashed Adam Milne for a maximum as the side raced to 20/0 inside the first two overs.
Zaman joined in on the action with some clean hitting as he went after Bangladeshi pacer Junaid Siddique in his first over. He went across the stump and cut him away for a boundary and then struck a beautiful pull shot for four more.
Zaman was in his groove and seemed to have a simple target — to not let the bowlers settle. He went after Ashton Agar, hitting him for a massive six with a slog sweep. The Pakistani batter darted down the track for the next delivery and hit it straight past the bowler as the Desert Vipers put up 47 runs after five overs. At the same stage in the first innings, the Sharjah Warriorz were 18/4.
The gulf in batting was evident as the required run rate dipped below three runs an over and the Desert Vipers’ batsmen made merry in the middle. Hales was happy to play the supporting role while Zaman fired on all cylinders.
Hales targeted Siddique again in the seventh over, using all his might to muscle the ball over long-on and into the stands. Zaman brought up his half-century soon after, his second of the season, in 30 balls.
It was a matter of time before the Desert Vipers chased down the target and Zaman accelerated that process by executing a textbook slog-sweep to hit Agar for six and followed that up with a lovely six over long-on to wrap up the contest in style. Zaman finished with an impressive 71 in 39 balls.
Earlier, the Desert Vipers won the toss and chose to bowl. That proved to be a brilliant decision as Amir weaved his magic with the new ball. The Pakistani pacer needed just four deliveries to make his intentions clear as Johnson Charles flicked it off his pads straight to Dan Lawrence along the ropes at deep backward square. Amir would pick up two wickets in his first over as he sent Avishka Fernando back to the pavilion too.
Amir came back to haunt the Sharjah Warriorz batting lineup as he made full use of the pitch. A slightly shorter delivery undid Rohan Mustafa, who tried to flick it away on the leg side, but only got a leading edge and Sam Curran took a simple catch. The Sharjah Warriorz were in a precarious position at this point, struggling at 15/3 after three overs.
The Desert Vipers were relentless in their attacking bowling and were rewarded with another wicket in the fourth over when Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s miss-timed shot earned David Payne his first.
With the batting crumbling, Luke Wells took the onus to steady the ship. The Englishman struck back-to-back boundaries and just when it seemed like he had found his footing, Wanindu Hasaranga knocked over his stumps with a peach of a delivery. Wells was playing for the googly, but Hasaranga spun the ball in as it sneaked between bat and pad to crash onto the leg stump.
Reeling at 30/5, the Sharjah Warriorz brought Jason Roy on as an Impact Sub to replace Fernando. Typically an opening batsman, Roy found himself in an unfamiliar position batting at No. 7 for the first time in his career, but did well to slow things down. The runs did not flow off his bat, but Roy and Tim Seifert held things together in the middle. That was until Hasaranga struck again with a stunning over.
Seifert was the first to depart as a Hasaranga googly stayed low and struck him on the pads for a plumb leg-before-wicket. Some lightning-quick skills from Tanish Suri behind the stumps saw Hasaranga pick up his second of the over as Agar was beaten by a length ball and subsequently stumped. That marked Hasaranga’s 300th wicket in T20s, making him the first Sri Lankan spinner to achieve the feat.
The Sharjah Warriorz were down to 45/7 and the Desert Vipers were in complete control of the contest but suffered a setback when their skipper Lockie Ferguson hobbled off the pitch after twisting his ankle. Curran assumed the captaincy responsibilities, while Roy held his bat for the Warriorz. He was their last batting hope but lacked support from the other end as Curran accounted for Harmeet Singh and Southee.
Amir came back to claim a fourth and with it the Sharjah Warriorz were bundled out for 91 in 19.1 overs. Amir finished with an impressive 4/24, which is the best bowling performance in the Desert Vipers’ history. Hasaranga also claimed a piece of history as his 3/10 was the most economical four-over spell in DP World ILT20.
Player of the match Amir said: “As a new-ball bowler, you try to swing the ball. I believe you have to bowl according to the wicket and hit the right areas. You need to adapt as quickly as you can to conditions, as a bowler. I saw the movie ‘Pushpa 2’ last week and the hero did that, so I was doing the same (on his celebration). We have got a great bowling unit.”
Brief scores:
Desert Vipers beat Sharjah Warriorz by 10 wickets
Sharjah Warriorz 91/10 in 19.1 overs (Jason Roy 30 not out, Harmeet Singh 11, Mohammad Amir 4 for 24, Wanindu Hasaranga 3 for 10, Sam Curran 2 for 14)
Desert Vipers 95/0 in 10 overs (Fakhar Zaman 71 not out, Alex Hales 23 not out)
Player of the match: Mohammad Amir
