Dubai.
Desert Vipers produced a nail-biting two-wicket win off the last ball after a fierce battle against MI Emirates in the 14th match of the DP World ILT20 season 2 at the Dubai International Stadium.
MI Emirates was restricted to 149 for 9 in 20 overs, but they fought back to reduce Vipers to 62 for 5. The fate of the match swung like a pendulum till the last over.
Vipers’ Sherfane Rutherford lit up hopes of a victory through a quick 35 runs after taking 17 runs off Boult’s 17th over with a six and two boundaries. Then Bravo had Rutherford caught by Kusal Perera at mid-on off a slower delivery. Shaheen Afridi (17n.o) and Luke Wood (6n.o) took up the challenge of scoring 17 runs from the last 12 balls and ten off the last over from Trent Boult to win off the last ball. They ran for the three runs needed to win off the last ball.
Earlier MI Emirates’ batting cracked against the tight bowling of Mohammad Amir (3 for 26), Luke Wood (2 for 32) and Matheesha Pathirana (2 for 32). Their total was shaped by Ambati Rayudu and Akeal Hosein’s 49 runs partnership in 45 deliveries for the fifth wicket through knocks of 23 and 24 runs respectively. Tim David’s cameo of 28 off 14 balls gave some respectability to the total.
Player of the Match Mohammad Amir said, “It was an interesting game, and I am happy I did something for the team as I thought Rutherford would be the player of the match. We bowled in partnership and it is important to communicate with each other. Also, Shaheen and me are sharing the experience, and that helps.”
Brief scores:
Desert Vipers bt MI Emirates by two-wickets.
MI Emirates 149 for 9 in 20 overs (Ambati Rayudu 23, Akeal Hosein 24, Tim David 28, Mohammad Amir 3 for 26, Luke Wood 2 for 32, Matheesha Pathirana 2 for 32)
Desert Vipers 150 for 8 in 20 overs (Wanindu Hasaranga 26, Azam Khan 20, Sherfane Rutherford 35, Fazalhaq Farooqi 2 for 23, Muhammad Rohid 3 for 21, Dwayne Bravo 2 for 30)
Player of the Match: Mohammad Amir
