The Desert Vipers returned to winning ways in the International League T20 2023 courtesy of a comprehensive bowling performance. After managing a par score on a difficult track to bat on, the bowlers took full advantage of the slower conditions as Colin Munro’s side picked up their sixth win of the campaign.

Earlier, the Vipers decided to bat first after winning the toss. Naveen-ul-Haq and Junaid Siddique provided a solid start by giving no room for the openers to attack. Muhammad Jawadullah capitalised on the momentum and dismissed Alex Hales.

Rohan Mustafa took the mantle on himself once Mohammad Nabi came on and struck two boundaries in the fifth over, but the off-spinner struck big in his next over. Skipper Colin Munro crunched a big six over mid-wicket in the seventh over before the low bounce of the surface got him walking back.

The Warriors took full control in the next few overs and introduced Noor Ahmed into the attack. The teenage sensation dismissed a well set Rohan Mustafa (31 off 33 balls) in his first over and returned to pick up the prized scalp of Wanindu Hasaranga. The Lankan all-rounder tried to tee up a big over for the Vipers and got one boundary in the over, but perished in an attempt to heave it over mid-wicket.

Sherfane Rutherford looked in good touch and struck a 103-metre six to get going, but a mix-up in the middle with Sam Billings got him run out at a crucial juncture in the game. This brought Benny Howell into the middle, who chipped in with a vital cameo for the side.

His onslaught began with a boundary over a backward point off Junaid Siddique, while Billings at the other end, tried to keep up with him with the occasional boundary. The duo amassed 16 runs in the 18th over, but the over ended with Billings getting dismissed.

New batter Gus Atkinson added another boundary in the final over to get the batting unit close to the 150-mark, but we finished with 148/6 in 20 overs. Howell remained unbeaten on 34 off 23 deliveries, which included four boundaries.

After the innings break, Atkinson was at it with the ball as well, providing the Vipers an early breakthrough. His short delivery with a hint of away movement deceived Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Rohan Mustafa at fine leg lunged forward to take a brilliant catch.

Luke Wood joined the party in the following over, dismissing Tom Kohler-Cadmore off the first ball of his spell. Once again, it was the short delivery doing the trick and Alex Hales at mid-off made no mistake to grab it. Despite scoring 16 runs in the first over, the Warriors could only manage 39 runs in the opening six overs.

Wanindu Hasaranga was introduced to the attack after the field restrictions were lifted and the Lankan magician furthered the Warriors’ misery. A brilliant flipper from the leggie induced a false shot from Marcus Stoinis and was trapped plumb in front of the wickets.

After Sam Billings’ instincts induced a terrific run out to dismiss Joe Denly, Hasaranga returned to shackle Adam Hose’s stumps in his third over with an unplayable wrong-un. He capped his spell off with the wicket of Mohammad Nabi in the 13th over, finishing with figures of 3/13.

At the end of Hasaranga’s heroic spell, the Warriors were stranded at 73/6 with all the explosive batters back in the pavilion. A few boundaries from Noor Ahmad and Paul Walter gave them a hint of hope, but Luke Wood returned to the attack and sabotaged any possible comeback. He dismissed both Walter and Ahmad, knocking out the latter’s stumps with a peach of a delivery in his final over.

The Sharjah Warriors could only manage 126/8 in 20 overs, handing the Vipers an important win after a massive setback against MI Emirates on Sunday. We have also reclaimed the top position in the points table with this 22-run victory.

Brief Scores:Desert Vipers 148/6 in 20 overs (Benny Howell 34*, Rohan Mustafa 31; Noor Ahmad 2/27) beat Sharjah Warriors 126/8 in 20 overs (Paul Walter 27; Wanindu Hasaranga 3/13, Luke Wood 3/20)

The Desert Vipers pulled out all the stops for a thrilling 12-run win against the Dubai Capitals on Saturday evening at the Dubai International Stadium.

Put in to bat, the Vipers lost their star batter Alex Hales early, and needed some battling knocks from captain Colin Munro, Sam Billings, Tom Curran and Sherfane Rutherford to post a total of 149 for nine in 20 overs. This proved enough as the Desert Vipers bowling attack defended this total successfully, with a brilliant effort in the death overs from Tom Curran and Matheesha Pathirana closing out the Dubai Capitals run-chase.Match Scores:Desert Vipers: 149/5(20 overs)Dubai Capitals:137/5(20 overs)Match Result:Desert Vipers won by 12 runs.Player of the Match: Adam Zampa (3-16)Here are some quotes from the post-match media conference featuring Rohan Mustafa:“Getting an opportunity for players like myself from an Associate team in this league (DP World ILT20) is a big thing for us. I believe with this league coming to the UAE, we (UAE players) will definitely improve.“Everyone (on the Desert Vipers squad) has been training very well, and they have the experience of playing around the globe, so I don’t think playing two matches in a row will really affect them much.“As Associate players, we are used to playing two 50-over games in two days, so for me it is not a worry.“Yes, the MI Emirates team (whom Desert Vipers play on Sunday in Sharjah) is a good team. We beat them in Abu Dhabi, and we played really well that day. But we expect them to come hard at us. They have world-class players like Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard, but I believe if we do the basics right we can do the same (and beat MI Emirates again).“I don’t think (we were short of runs). They bowled really well in the end. I would give credit to their (Dubai Capitals) bowlers , who bowled really well. The wicket was not that easy, and it was turning, and it was not easy to hit.“Yusuf Pathan and Rovman Powell played really well, especially over about four overs when they hit me, Matheesha Pathirana and Wanindu Hasaranga for some runs. But honestly the wicket was not that easy and if you bowled according to the field, it was hard to hit on this wicket.“All the team mates (Desert Vipers squad) have really supported us, even if we don’t do well. There are small things they (international players) have taught us (UAE and Associate players), like how to handle pressure, and this is really helpful for us. We will need to take these learnings and implement them in the nets as well. I believe next year, if we are playing, we will have improved a lot.”Here are quotes from the interview with Head Coach James Foster on the Vipers Voices Podcast:“With two batters (Yusuf Pathan and Rovman Powell) in, who are formidable strikers of the cricket ball, that was exceptional bowling (from Matheesha Pathirana and Tom Curran in the death overs). It was some of the best death bowling I have ever seen, to be honest. There was a fair bit of pressure there and the way they (Pathirana and Curran) closed that out was something very special. Hats off to them as bowling three overs in a row, each end, is a difficult thing to do and they came out with flying colours. I am delighted for them.“It is a great win, the win today, because it gives you a lot of confidence coming back from that position where the game was in their (Dubai Capitals) favour. Those last four overs were just great to see.“Alex Hales has been in phenomenal touch this season, but today the partnership between Sam Billings and Colin Munro was wonderful. Munro was striking the ball very well and that put a lot of pressure on to them (Dubai Capitals). That might have been our highest powerplay score this season or close to it on what was a potentially tough pitch. So, I was particularly delighted with that partnership.“I am delighted with this win, and it is important that we bring this confidence into the next game. We have back-to-back games. Off to Sharjah tomorrow and we have new conditions that we have to assess quickly and that is something we have done well this season.”About the Desert VipersOwned by Lancer Capital, The Desert Vipers team is one of six to compete at the inaugural ICC-sanctioned ILT20 tournament to be held in the UAE in January-February 2023. Cricket Director Tom Moody and Head Coach James Foster lead operations in the star-studded Desert Vipers camp, which includes players like Sam Billings, Wanindu Hasaranga, Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Tom Curran, and Sheldon Cottrell. Other key staffing appointments include Azhar Mahmood (fast bowling coach), Carl Crowe (spin bowling coach), Simon Helmot (fielding coach), and Neil McKenzie (batting coach).

Tom Curran was the best performer for the Desert Vipers with 12 runs and two wickets

Desert Viperssuffered an excruciating loss out of seven games againstMI Emiratesby 157 runs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday. While Tom Curran bagged two wickets in the first innings to restrict the Emirates to 241/3, he also scored the most for the Vipers with 12 runs. The Vipers collapsed for 84 runs in 12.1 overs.

Alex HalesandRohan Mustafabegan to scale down a 242-run peak, with Trent Boult starting the defence work. Mustafa could only add five runs to his name before getting removed by Afghani pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi in the second over.

Boult sent back the destructive Hales to the dugout early for four runs off six balls. With the asking rate booming over 12 an over, English gloveman Sam Billings joined skipper Colin Munro at the crease.

Farooqi struck again to Munro for 10 before his teammate Zahoor Khan removed Billings and new batter Sherfane Rutherford in the penultimate over. Farooqi also sent Benny Howell back to the dressing room with the Vipers reeling at 47 for six at the end of the powerplay.

The tail end of the Vipers could not add much to the scoreboard as the Emirates were consistent with bagging wickets. The red-hot Vipers were reduced to 84 for 10 in 12.1 overs. All in all, Farooqi bagged a three-fer with turners Zahoor and Imran Tahir picking two wickets each.

The result will have massive implications for the net run rates going forward. But a well-settled Vipers will not be worried with the outcome at Sharjah as they have almost occupied their spots at the top.

Earlier, Desert Vipers opted to bowl first at Sharjah with four changes in the playing XI as they deployed Luke Wood, Shiraz Ahmed, Mark Watt, and Benny Howell in addition to their bowling stocks.

Emirates’ opening duo of Muhammed Waseem and Andre Fletcher began the fireworks from the word go. They hammered left-arm spinner Mark Watt and pacer Tom Curran for big runs. Within no time, they raced up to 68 runs at the end of the powerplay.

Emirates’ carnage looked unstoppable as the openers took the run rate over 11, with 114 at the board after 10 overs. The UAE batter, Waseem, was firing at his best. Meanwhile, Fletcher brought up his fifty in 38 balls before felling prey to pacerMatheesha Pathiranain the 13th over.

Waseem stood unbeaten at 80 off 38 balls, which comprised ten boundaries and four sixes by the time Pollard joined the forces. English pacerTom Currancame into the attack in the 15th over and delivered. He removed the settled Waseem for 86 runs off 44 balls before dismissing Najibullah Zadran for a two-ball duck.

That game-changing 15th over by Curran could apply brakes on the Emirates’ party as the pacer only leaked six runs, taking home a couple of wickets. The Emirates were all set for a big finish with 153 for three at the end of Curran’s magical over.

The hard-hitting Pollard rolled back the years and produced a 19-ball fifty with debutant Dan Mousley (31) also doing some wood work at the other end to muscle the Emirates to 241/3 in 20 overs.

Even though the Vipers tried their best, the result will have massive implications for the net run rates going forward. But a well-settled Vipers will not be worried about the outcome at Sharjah as they have almost occupied their spot at the top with five well-deserved wins until now.

Brief Scores:MI Emirates 241/3 in 20 overs (M Waseem 86, K Pollard 50; T Curran 2/63) defeated Desert Vipers 84 in 12.1 overs (T Curran 12, C Munro 10; F Farooqi 3/13)