ILT20: Luke Wood & Wanindu Hasaranga bowl the Desert Vipers to win over Sharjah Warriors

Sharjah: Desert Vipers defeated Sharjah Warriors by 22 runs in the 23rd game of the DP World ILT20 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium thanks to a brilliant bowling performance from their star leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (3 for 13) as well as left-arm medium pacer Luke Wood (3 for 20).

Through this victory, they were able to advance to the playoffs and all but guarantee a top-two finish.

‘The Desert Vipers, who had lost their previous match to MI Emirates by 157 runs, put on a fantastic comeback performance. They ultimately earned 12 points from 8 games to secure the top spot in the points standings. Gulf Giants are ahead of them in 2nd place with 10 points, although only after seven games. Sharjah Warriors, who have seven points from eight games and are ahead of Dubai Capitals, who have seven points from eight games, are still in fourth place. MI Emirates is in third place after seven games and nine points.

Despite opener Rohan Mustafa’s 31-run knock and Benny Howell’s undefeated 34, Desert Vipers could only score 148 for 6 in 20 overs, while Sharjah Warriors were held to 126 for 8 in the same amount of time.
Desert Vipers fearlessly chose to bat after winning the toss. Their opening batsman and top scorer Alex Hales was dismissed for four runs on the third delivery of the fourth over by UAE left-arm medium pacer Muhammad Jawadullah after failing to pull. Mohammad Nabi received two consecutive boundaries in the fifth over from opener Rohan Mustafa. Desert Vipers had scored 37 for 1 during the powerplay. Captain Colin Munro continued to drive Nabi for a six before falling two balls later and was caught leg-before for 11.

In the ninth over, Mustafa who was striking well got bowled by left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad for 31. He fell to the googly from Ahmad after he had hit five boundaries in his 33-ball innings. At the halfway mark, Desert Vipers were 59 for 3. In the 11th over, Wanindu Hasaranga going for a big shot landed up being caught by Paul Walter off Noor Ahmad for 6.

Sherfane Rutherford and Sam Billings tried their best to accelerate the run flow. They took the score to 80 when in the 14th over Rutherford got run out for 14 off a direct hit by Jawadullah while attempting a risky single. Desert Vipers reached the 100-run mark in 15.1 overs. Billings and Benny Howell added 52 runs for the sixth wicket before Jawadullah picked his second wicket clean bowling Billings with a yorker for 27. This also resulted in Desert Vipers not crossing the 150-run mark, however in the last five overs they had scored 50 runs. Howell remained unbeaten on 34 from 23 balls with four boundaries.

Chasing the gettable target of 149 runs from 120 balls, Sharjah Warriors started on an aggressive note with opener Tom Kohler-Cadmore scoring 16 runs off the first over from Sheldon Cottrell which included two successive boundaries and a six. Gus Atkinson struck with the third ball of the second over having opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz caught by Rohan Mustafa at deep square leg for 1.

Luke Wood removed the dangerous Kohler-Cadmore with the first ball of the third over forcing him to the top edge to Hales at mid-off for 15. Marcus Stoinis and Adam Hose kept the scoreboard moving despite Desert Vipers’ bowlers bowling tightly. At the score of 50 in 8.1 overs, Stoinis fell for 17. Going for a sweep off Hasaranga, he missed the delivery and was adjudged leg before for 17. The consistent Joe Denly joined Hose but got run out by the brilliance of the wicketkeeper.

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Half the side was back in the dug-out when Hasaranga clean-bowled Hose with a googly. Hose was settling down and had scored 17 runs. Sharjah Warriors slipped into further trouble when Hasaranga clean-bowled Nabi too with another googly. This was Hasaranga’s third wicket and Sharjah Warriors seemed to take a firm grip on the match.

Paul Walter and Noor Ahmad took the score past the 100-run mark but when 48 runs were needed in the last 24 balls, Walter drove Wood straight into the hands of substitute Lyth at mid-off for 27. Hales dropped Ahmad twice at mid-off off Atkinson’s 17th over. Wood clean bowled Ahmad for 23 and along with ended Sharjah Warriors challenge.

Speaking about their performance, Sharjah Warriors’ batting coach Matthew Maynard, “We didn’t play enough strong shots for singles. We weren’t aggressive in our approach. We didn’t use our feet well against the spinners. That’s something we will work on before the next game. We want to achieve two wins and play with the intent we showed in our last few games.”

Meanwhile, Desert Vipers’ head coach James Foster said, “It was a phenomenal win for the Desert Vipers. We thought 140 would be a defendable total and we were quite pleased with 148 on a difficult wicket. I felt our bowlers didn’t allow them to play their shots. I am delighted with the fight and character the team showed today.”

Brief scores: Desert Vipers 148 for 6 in 5 in 20 overs (Rohan Mustafa 31, Sam Billings 27, Benny Howell 34n.o, Muhammad Jawadullah 2 for 36, Noor Ahmad 2 for 27); Sharjah Warriors 126 for 8 in 20 overs (Paul Walter 27, Noor Ahmad 23, Luke Wood 3 for 20, Wanindu Hasaranga 3 for 13)

-IANS

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