The Desert Vipers pulled off a hard-fought two-wicket win over the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) in Sharjah and now have two wins from two games.
ADKR reached 100 for one in 11 overs but the Vipers fought back through some excellent bowling from debutant Qais Ahmad (two for 29), Noor Ahmad (two for 35) and Naseem Shah (one for 28) with the latter’s final over to big-hitter Andre Russell costing only five runs.
Top-score for ADKR was former Viper Alex Hales, with 53 from 37 balls.
The Vipers stuttered early on in their chase before player of the match Shimron Hetmyer (48 from 25 balls) and Dan Lawrence (35 in 32 balls) added 68 for the fifth wicket, and at 134 for four in the 16th over, the team seemed well-placed for a comfortable win.
But when both players fell in quick succession, the match was back in the balance and it took a superb cameo from Khuzaima bin Tanveer, with an unbeaten 31 from 12 deliveries to see the side home with three balls in hand.
Match Scores:
Toss: Desert Vipers
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders: 171/6 (20 overs)
Top scorer: Alex Hales 53 (37 balls)
Desert Vipers: 175/8 (19.3 overs)
Top scorer: Shimron Hetmyer 48 (25 deliveries)
Match Result: The Desert Vipers won by two wickets
Player of the Match: Shimron Hetmyer 48 (25)
Here are some quotes from the Vipers Voices post-match vodcast and podcast featuring Dan Lawrence:
On Khuzaima Bin Tanveer’s heroics at the end to take the Desert Vipers to victory:
“We have worked out he is an absolute gem of a cricketer. His bowling obviously speaks for itself. He started really well last year with the ball, and he is carrying that on this year and, to be honest, I did not know he could strike a cricket ball like that.
“He really dug us out of a hole there and pretty much single-handedly won the game on his own there so congratulations to him and it puts us in really good stead now.”
On how the game swung in and out of favour of the Vipers until the very end:
“It was a funny game of cricket. There were periods of that game where it felt like we were in total control and then there were a few periods where we felt like we were right up against it.
“They came at us quite hard with the ball and we lost three early wickets. Then we had a period of consolidation there in the middle and then when me and Hetty (Shimron Hetmyer) were batting we thought we had it in the bag. Then we both got out at pretty tricky times and it was a hell of an effort from Kuzi (Khuzaima Bin Tanveer) at the end to see us over the line.”
On his own knock and where things went wrong:
“I thought I played well up to that point (of getting out). I was just trying to assess the game situation and understood that it was not going to be a kind of a glamorous innings and I was not going to strike at 200 (runs per hundred balls). I just tried to anchor the game and try and take it as deep as possible and the plan was working until me and Hettie got out.
“But we are not playing anywhere near our best cricket at the moment and we are two from two so these are really promising signs.”
On bowling to Sherfane Rutherford and getting his wicket :
“The plan was when a left-hander came in there was going to be a decent chance that I was going to bowl an over. So as soon as he (Sherfane Rutherford) came in I came on to bowl. Thankfully he had just walked in, and he had not got his eye in because obviously we all know how dangerous he is, I managed to spin a couple in my first over and get the wicket which was a great feeling.
“It was nice to bowl a good over but I think the two other spinners were the stars of the show today, Noor (Ahmad) showing his class as he always does and Qais (Ahmad) bowled beautifully as well.”
On Shimron Hetmyer going after Abu Dhabi Knight Riders’ two West Indies players Sunil Narine and Andre Russell:
“I do not think there is any such thing as respect between West Indians when they play against each other. I think Hettie (Shimron Hetmyer) always wanted to get after Sunil Narine and Andre Russell when they came on.
“So it was great viewing from the other end watching a world-class batter face a world-class spinner (Narine). Hettie got his day today and he played him really well and that was a big two balls in the game when he hit him for two sixes in a row.”
On the team’s chances of doing well against the Gulf Giants on Monday In Dubai:
“Every team in this competition, if you look through the names and the team sheets that are being put out, is really world-class this year, and you are going to have to play well to win any of these games.
“I am sure we are going to treat them (Gulf Giants) with the same respect we have treated the other two teams and we will do our planning and hopefully go three from three.”
The Desert Vipers next play the Gulf Giants at the Dubai International Stadium on Monday, December the 8th, starting at 6:30 pm.
Tickets for all Desert Vipers matches are now available here
