Sam Curran leads Desert Vipers to their maiden ILT20 Title as MI Emirates fall well short of the 182-run target.
Sam Curran crashed an unbeaten 74, while the bowlers shared the spoils to damage MIE’s chase.
Desert Vipers broke the final curse by defeating MI Emirates by 46 runs to win their first ILT20 title in Dubai, making it their third time fortunate after two heartbreaks.
Sam Curran, the captain, led the Vipers to victory with an undefeated 74 off 51 balls. Max Holden (41 off 32) and Dan Lawrence (23 off 15) assisted him as Vipers achieved a remarkable 182 for 4 in their 20 overs.
MIE lost wickets frequently and were never able to get their chase going. Usman Tariq stopped the runs in the middle overs, returning 2 for 20, while Naseem Shah was at his fiery best, taking 3 for 18 in his four overs.
As MIE was dismissed for 136 in 18.3 overs, David Payne also claimed 3 for 42, all of his wickets coming in an over. It was appropriate that the season’s most reliable squad won the championship.
After Gulf Giants, MIE, and Dubai Capitals won the first three seasons, Vipers’ victory means that ILT20 has now had a different winner in each of its first four seasons.
Shakib Al Hasan was dismissed over wide long on the second ball of the innings by Fakhar Zaman, who wasted no time in pursuing him. Fakhar and Jason Roy both profited on MIE’s careless fielding. Vipers stormed to 34 in three overs as Roy hammered left-arm quick Muhammad Rohid for back-to-back fours after Fakhar’s boundary off the first ball from AM Ghazanfar.
However, MIE responded with a double-wicket opening over thanks to Fazalhaq Farooqi. Before Farooqi cleaned up Fakhar with a gem of an inducker that pitched just outside off and swung back in breaching the opener’s stumps, Roy flat-batted a short-of-a-length delivery straight to short midwicket.
Curran kept the scorecard moving while Holden took his time getting comfortable. Before leading Kieron Pollard past short third, he twice dragged offspinner Tajinder Singh through midwicket. As Vipers raced beyond 100 in the 12th over, Holden, who was going about a run a ball, also found his stride and turned Tajinder inside out over the covers before planting him over long-on.
Holden was removed by mystery spinner Arab Gul, ending the 89-run third-wicket partnership, but Lawrence made sure the momentum was maintained. As Vipers considered a late push, he smoked Gul over the covers second ball before Curran hit his fifty off 39 balls. Vipers broke the 180-mark after scoring 46 runs in the final four overs.
The chase got off to a fast start thanks to Muhammad Waseem, MIE’s ILT20 standout. While Andre Fletcher sent quick spinner Khuzaima Tanveer clean down the ground for six, he whacked Payne over deep midwicket. Waseem persisted despite Fletcher falling, mistiming Naseem to deep midwicket. He edged Curran past the wicketkeeper after pulling Naseem over midwicket. However, MIE’s pursuit was damaged by a barrage of wickets.
It was up to the two seasoned leaders, Shakib and Pollard, to try to work some magic when the needed rate approached eleven. They added 60 off 45 balls, but Vipers held their lines and didn’t reveal much on a pitch that had much to offer bowlers.
At the beginning of the 16th over, Shakib attempted to haul Tariq over long-on with the needed rate close to 14, but he was unable to produce enough force, and Tanveer completed the task.
MIE’s hopes of winning a second title were dashed when Pollard fell six balls later. Tanveer ended the chase when Payne claimed three wickets in one over. MIE collapsed after losing their final six wickets for just 22 runs in 3.3 overs.