Adrian Holdstock (South Africa), Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afghanistan), Paul Wilson (Australia, TV)
Referee
Simon Taufel (Australia)
Toss
Desert Vipers elected to bowl
Pitch Report
The surface is very well grassed and very even, so, the new ball should do something for the seamers. Otherwise, it is a pretty good pitch for batting.
VENUE STATS
1st Innings
156Avg Runs
6Avg Wkts
132.91Avg
SR
2nd Innings
141Avg Runs
5Avg Wkts
131.53Avg
SR
Weather Update
Weather Update
Abu Dhabi,United Arab Emirates
Updated: 12 Jan 18:30
23.5°CClear
52%
Clouds
0%
Rain %
16.5 kmph
Wind
Which team will win?
ADKR
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Adrian Holdstock (South Africa), Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afghanistan), Paul Wilson (Australia, TV)
Referee
Simon Taufel (Australia)
Toss
Desert Vipers elected to bowl
OVS
Bowler :
No summary available yet!
606111
Over 16
Runs: 15
121411
Over 17
Runs: 10
1W1104
Over 18
Runs: 7
2414
Over 19
Runs: 11
All Overs
Player of the Match
Dan Lawrence
70(39)
Player of the Series
Sam Curran
Lucky Winner
Analysis
Weather Update
Abu Dhabi,United Arab Emirates
Updated: 12 Jan 18:30
23.5°CClear
52%
Clouds
0%
Rain %
16.5 kmph
Wind
Commentary
COMMENTARY NOT AVAILABLE
The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
That's all from this thrilling encounter! The Desert Vipers take the win by 7 wickets with 8 balls to spare. Thank you for joining us for this exciting match. Switch tabs, as the second game of the night is just around the corner, with Gulf Giants facing off against Sharjah Warriorz in Dubai. This is Meeth Agrawal signing off alongside my co-commentator Bidipto Datta.
Daniel Lawrence (Player of the Match for his 70 off 39): I think the situation was nice to come into. I had to give myself some time before settling in. As Lockie said we have a good experienced bowling attack and the plans were pretty set. It's probably the most professional setup that I have ever played in.
Lockie Ferguson (Desert Vipers captain): Yeah good (On captaining for the first time in T20s). Nice to get across the line. Good to win the toss. Look I have played here. There's a bit of grass and I am a big fan of it. We have an experienced bowling attack. The plans were clear and we did pretty well.
Sunil Narine (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders captain): I think we did pretty well to get back into the game after the power play. Alishan and Phil helped us get going, we could have got more, but we got back into the act alright. It was a pitch which helped the ball seam a bit and also, made the ball turn a bit. But it was decent. We have a long way to go in this tournament. Just the first game. We need to regroup and get on the board.
5:38 pm local time (7:08 pm IST): Time now for the post-match presentation!
Desert Vipers win by 7 wickets with 8 balls to spare!
Daniel Lawrence - 70 (39) | Lockie Ferguson - 1/26 Phil Salt - 71 (49) | Shahid Bhutta - 1/27
A clinical chase from the Desert Vipers to kick off their ILT20 campaign with a well-deserved victory. Set a target of 167, the Vipers initially found themselves struggling, but a superb half-century from Daniel Lawrence steadied the ship after a slow start.
The early breakthroughs from ADKR, including wickets from Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, had them on the backfoot, but once Lawrence found his rhythm, he joined forces with Sam Curran in a crucial 95-run partnership. The duo kept the scoreboard ticking with at least a boundary every over, aided by some wayward bowling from ADKR. Narine's decision to give the pacers the ball midway through the chase proved to be a costly one, as the momentum shifted firmly in the Vipers' favor.
Lawrence, who finished on 70, punished Narine when he returned to bowl later, and after his departure, Curran continued the charge, reaching his own half-century to seal the win with 8 balls to spare.
Coming to the first innings, the Vipers' pacers, led by Lockie Ferguson in his first match as T20 captain, were outstanding, restricting ADKR to just 39/3 in the first 7 overs. However, a resilient 86-run partnership between Phil Salt and Alishan Sharafu brought the Knight Riders back into the game. Sharafu retired out at the death, paving the way for Andre Russell to join Salt and add the finishing touches, with Salt bringing up a half-century. Despite this late surge, ADKR’s total ultimately fell short as the Vipers completed the chase comfortably.
A dominant performance from the Desert Vipers to start their campaign on a high! Stay tuned for the presentations.
18.4 Ali Khan to Sherfane Rutherford, DESERT VIPERS ARE ON THE BOARD, CONVINCINGLY! Back of a length on leg-stump. Pulled around to the right of short fine-leg from the back foot and that finds the boundary to hand the Lockie Ferguson-led side their first victory!
HALF-CENTURY FOR SAM CURRAN! Just what he needed after an off day with the ball earlier in the game.
18.3 Ali Khan to Sam Curran, PUT DOWN! Back of a length on middle-stump. Punched on the back foot to the deep mid-wicket fielder. But Mayers ran in, dived, and dropped it low to his left! 50 for Curran with that single.
18.2 Ali Khan to Sam Curran, FOUR RUNS! Length ball angling in to the pads. Flicked over the in-field off the legs to the vacant deep square-leg region for a boundary!
18.1 Ali Khan to Sam Curran, good length slower ball around off-stump. Clubbed on the up to the left of long-on but Andre Russell did well to keep it down to two runs!
What a knock that was from Lawrence coming at a crucial phase of the chase. Striking at close to 180 without taking any risk is just commendable.
18
overs
157/3score
1
W
1
1
0
4
runs
Sherfane Rutherford*
5(3)
Sam Curran
43(34)
Shahid Iqbal Bhutta
1/27
17.6 Shahid Iqbal Bhutta to Sherfane Rutherford, FOUR RUNS! Length ball bowled outside off-stump. Stroked on the up away from the body to the deep backward point area off the thick outer half of the blade for a boundary.
17.5 Shahid Iqbal Bhutta to Sherfane Rutherford, Oh! Good length ball angling across the left-hander. Rutherford had a waft at it away from the body and missed.
17.4 Shahid Iqbal Bhutta to Sam Curran, full on middle-stump here. Driven down to long-on off the front foot for a single again. Nice timing on it this time!
17.3 Shahid Iqbal Bhutta to Sherfane Rutherford, good length ball around off-stump. Punched on the up off the front foot to deep cover for a single.
Sherfane Rutherford, LHB, comes to the crease
17.2 Shahid Iqbal Bhutta to Dan Lawrence, LAWRENCE HAS TO GO NOW! Hard length around off-stump at 141 kph. Lawrence tried to hammer it on the up over mid-on but ended up slicing it. Jason Holder ran from mid-off, kept his eyes on the ball, kept his balance and took a fine catch in the end!
Daniel Lawrence c Holder b Shahid Bhutta 70 (39b, 7x4, 3x6)
17.1 Shahid Iqbal Bhutta to Sam Curran, over the wicket, full around off-stump. Stroked away down to the left of mid-off from the crease for a single to rotate strike.
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Sherfane Rutherford
*
Shahid Iqbal Bhutta
Video
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