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Sharjah Warriors captain Tom Kohler-Cadmore's carnage-filled 34-ball 68 stood out as they beat Desert Vipers by seven runs at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on January 28. Alex Hales' 61-run knock and Azam Khan's cameo kept the Warriors on their toes but exceptional death overs bowling from Chris Woakes, Daniel Sams, and Muhammad Jawadullah helped them tighten the screws against the Pakistani duo.
After winning the toss, Munro opted to field first. Luke Wood in his first over dismissed both openers Niroshan Dickwella and Johnson Charles. Kohler-Cadmore and Martin Guptill made use of the fielding restrictions to take the Warriors to 55/2 after powerplay overs. Kohler-Cadmore hit massive sixes and reached his half-century from just 26 balls. He continued to hit big before Wood returned to break the partnership. His 34-ball 68 was laced with two fours and eight sixes.
After a few quiet overs, Shaheen Afridi got the wicket of Guptill. The former Kiwi opener scored 39 runs from 32 balls including four fours and a six. In the next over, Hasaranga struck thrice to dismiss Sams, Lewis Gregory, and Basil Hameed. In the slog overs, Joe Denly and Woakes struggled. Sharjah Warriors managed to post 174/7 after a batting collapse.
In the run chase, Woakes got rid of Munro on the second ball of the innings. Jawadullah dismissed Adam Hose in the fourth over whereas Sams got rid of Hasaranga. Hales kept the scoring rate up from one end. In the ninth over, Gregory got the wicket of Mustafa. Azam walked out to bat with an intent to attack. In the 13th over, Hales reached his half-century from 37 balls. Woakes came back into the attack and removed Hales. The opener's 40-ball 61 featured three fours and five sixes.
Sams in the 16th over removed Shane Rutherford before he could get going. In the 18th over, Azam was run out by Cadmore's direct hit. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 35 runs from 22 balls including five fours and a six. In the last two overs, Sams and Jawadullah did not let Afridi and Shadab hit big. The boundary came when it was too late and Warriors won the match by seven runs.
“Nice to come out with a win. Hasn't been an ideal start but we have played some good cricket. Never nice to be hit in the head, but that kind of woke me up. Managed to get a couple out the middle after that. The guys with the bowl managed to restrict really well, we took wickets whenever it was necessary. Our plan was to try to bowl the best bowl, bowl to the fields and keep taking wickets. This win gives us a lot of confidence, the bowlers stood up today,” Kohler-Cadmore said in the post-match presentation.
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