Desert Vipers’ spirited performance went in vain as they lost to Dubai Capitals by four wickets in a nail-biting International League T20 (ILT20) 2024 clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, February 1.
The Vipers rode on Rohan Mustafa’s 33-ball fifty, along with contributions from Alex Hales (49) and Adam Hose (35 not out) to post 169/6 in their 20 overs. In reply, Ben Dunk’s 59, Rovman Powell’s 40 and Jason Holder’s unbeaten 12-ball 23 guided the Capitals to a thrilling victory.
Earlier, Dubai Capitals captain David Warner won the toss and put the Vipers into bat.
Rohan Mustafa and Alex Hales opened the proceedings as the duo got the Vipers off to a blitzkrieg start.
Mustafa hammered Scott Kuggeleijn for back-to-back sixes while Hales joined the party to slam the Kiwi pacer for another maximum to accumulate 19 runs in the third over.
The two opening batters continued their dominance as they amassed 17 runs off Jason Holder’s second over and followed it up by scoring 14 runs in the next over to bring up Vipers’ fifty.
Meanwhile, Mustafa played some scintillating shots in the next few overs to notch up his half-century off just 32 balls. His brilliant knock included four fours and three sixes.
In the ninth over, Akif Raja dismissed Mustafa to end an incredible 81-run opening partnership.
Captain Colin Munro joined Hales at the crease. The pair stitched a 35-run stand for the second wicket before Hales departed one short of his fifty in the 14th over.
The Vipers then suffered massive blows as they lost wicketkeeper-batter Azam Khan (0), Munro (16) and Sherfane Rutherford (0) in quick succession.
In the final few overs, Adam Hose’s late cameo of unbeaten 35 off 17 balls helped the Vipers post a fighting total on the board.
Defending 169, Shaheen Afridi provided an early breakthrough as he removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz (4) in the third ball of the chase.
With the scalp, Afridi now has the most wickets (46) in the first over of the innings in T20 cricket.
The left-arm pacer continued his impressive spell as he dismissed opposition skipper Warner (4) in his second over.
The Vipers later bagged their third wicket as star leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga bamboozled Sam Billings (6) to reduce the Capitals to 56/3.
At the other end, Ben Dunk played a counter-attacking knock to bring up his fifty.
In the 10th over, Mustafa got the huge wicket of Dunk (59) to put the Vipers in a great position.
Struggling at 80/4, Rovman Powell joined Sikandar Raza at the crease. The duo added 41 runs before Mohammad Amir removed Raza for 22.
Hasaranga later scalped his second wicket of the match to get rid of Rahul Chopra.
With 39 runs required off 26 balls, Jason Holder walked out to bat. Despite some good bowling, Holder and Powell forged a match-winning partnership to guide the Capitals to their third win in ILT20 2024.
Having suffered their third defeat, the Vipers will aim to quickly bounce back when they lock horns with defending champions Gulf Giants at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, February 3.
Brief Scores
Desert Vipers 169/6 in 20 overs (Rohan Mustafa 50, Alex Hales 49, Sikandar Raza 1/28) lost to Dubai Capitals 170/6 in 20 overs (Ben Dunk 59, Rovman Powell 40*, Wanindu Hasaranga 2/25) by four wickets
