Desert Vipers pull through to eliminate Sharjah Warriorz in ILT20

Desert Vipers faced a late resistance but pulled through to secure a five-wicket win over the Sharjah Warriorz in the DP World ILT20 on Friday.

The result wiped out the Warriorz’ playoff hopes, while the Vipers became the first team in the tournament to win eight matches in the group stage.

Post this result, either Abu Dhabi Knight Riders or the Gulf Giants will complete the playoff line-up alongside Desert Vipers, MI Emirates and Dubai Capitals, with the two sides meeting on Sunday, December 28, in the final league-stage fixture.

Meanwhile, the winner of Saturday’s clash between MI Emirates and Dubai Capitals will secure a top-two finish.

Naseem Shah’s three wickets restricted the Warriorz to 140/7 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, before Max Holden’s unbeaten 66 runs in 46 balls, including nine fours and a six took the Vipers all the way.

Harmeet Singh’s three wickets in the middle overs briefly piled some pressure but Holden was ably supported by Sam Curran’s 25 runs in 28 balls, and Hasan Nawaz’s 25 runs in 14 balls.

For the Warriorz, Johnson Charles’ 43 runs in 37 balls was the highest score.

In the second innings, Sikandar Raza and Richard Ngarava put the Warriorz on top initially, keeping the Vipers to just 28/2 after six overs.

Raza struck in the third over to remove Fakhar Zaman (6 off 9), while Ngarava followed up by dismissing Andries Gous (1 off 4) to leave the chase wobbling early.

Curran and Holden began to claw their way back into the chase through a steady partnership of 64 runs in 53 balls. The pair rotated strike smartly against Adil Rashid before Harmeet Singh broke the stand in the 12th over after he trapped Curran LBW.

Harmeet gave the Vipers a late scare with wickets in the 14th and 16th overs. Dan Lawrence (9 off 7) was the first to fall, before Jason Roy (4 off 9) was caught and bowled by the USA spinner.

However, Hasan Nawaz then joined Holden in the middle and together, the duo’s unbeaten 47-run stand in 26 balls took the side home.

Desert Vipers skipper Sam Curran said, “It was really pleasing to get a win heading into the Qualifier. We adjusted to the conditions very well. Max played a superb innings, and Hasan finished it off nicely with some big strikes at the end. It was also good for a few batters to spend time in the middle. We’ve had a fantastic season overall, winning eight out of ten matches.”

Sharjah Warriorz' captain Sikandar Raza said, “Pretty much everything that could go wrong for us did go wrong this season. Had we played those key moments slightly better in few of our games, we would have qualified already. On these wickets, 150 was a competitive total and we rarely got there, which is the most painful part. The positives are with the bowling unit — Harmeet has been excellent since joining, Adil has bowled really well, and overall the bowlers consistently kept us in the game.”