Desert Vipers managed to hold their nerve and clinched a five-wicket win over Sharjah Warriorz, effectively ending the Warriorz’s hopes of making it to the ILT20 play-offs.
With this result, the final play-off spot will go to either the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders or the Gulf Giants, joining Desert Vipers, MI Emirates, and Dubai Capitals in the next stage. Meanwhile, the winner of Saturday’s match between MI Emirates and Dubai Capitals will secure a top-two finish.
For the Vipers, pacer Naseem Shah set the tone with three crucial wickets, limiting the Warriorz to 140/7. In reply, Max Holden starred with an unbeaten 66 off 46 balls, guiding his team to victory. He received support from Sam Curran, who scored 25 runs off 28 balls, and Hasan Nawaz, who contributed 25 off 14 balls. Harmeet Singh’s three wickets in the middle overs briefly applied pressure, but the Vipers kept their composure.
For the Warriorz, Johnson Charles top-scored with 43 runs off 37 balls. Early breakthroughs from David Payne and Khuzaima Tanveer put the Warriorz under pressure, reducing them to 6/2 within the first two overs. Payne trapped Monank Patel LBW in the first over, and Tanveer dismissed Tom Abell in the second.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore tried to fight back, scoring 20 off 22 balls and hitting Naseem Shah for 19 runs in the fifth over, taking the Warriorz to 45/2 inside the powerplay. Charles, after a cautious start, smashed two sixes off Qais Ahmad in the eighth over and built a 61-run partnership with Kohler-Cadmore. Kohler-Cadmore fell in the 10th over, but Charles kept the innings going until Naseem Shah finished strongly by taking the wickets of James Rew and Harmeet Singh in the 18th and 20th overs, keeping the total to 140/7.
The Vipers then chased it down comfortably, thanks to Holden’s brilliant innings and key contributions from Curran and Nawaz.