England all-rounder Sam Curran led Desert Vipers to their maiden ILT20 title win on January 4 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Curran's unbeaten 51-ball 74 followed by bowlers' clinical show helped Vipers beat Kieron Pollard's MI Emirates by 46 runs in the final clash.
Curran leads the way
Pollard won the toss and opted to bowl first in the final. Fakhar Zaman got off the mark with a six in the first over. In the fourth over, Fazalhaq Farooqi got rid of both openers, Jason Roy and Zaman. Curran ended the powerplay overs with three consecutive fours, taking the score to 59/2. Max Holden tried to play himself in. At the halfway stage, Vipers were 83/2.
Holden shifted gears and found boundaries. In the 15th over, Holden lost his wicket to Arab Gul Momand for a 32-ball 41. In the 17th over, Curran reached his fifty from 39 balls. In the 18th over, three sixes were hit off Romario Shepherd including two off the skipper's bat. No boundaries were scored in the final two overs. Dan Lawrence got run out off the final delivery for a 15-ball 23. Curran hit eight fours and two sixes in his 74-run knock, taking Vipers' score to 182/4.
ALSO READ: 5 overseas pacers who can replace Mustafizur Rahman in KKR’s squad for IPL 2026
Ineffective powerplay for Emirates
Muhammad Waseem and Andre Fletcher hit a six each off the first two overs. In the third over, Naseem Shah got the wicket of Fletcher and gave him a send-off which led to heated altercation. Curran was not lethal with the call, conceding 14 runs in his first over. Naseem continued to strike with the new ball. Tom Banton became his second victim. Opener Waseem's cameo came to an end in the sixth over. He lost his wicket to Khuzaima Tanveer for a 13-ball 26. Emirates were 46/3 after powerplay overs. Impact substitute Sanjay Krishnamurthi struggled to rotate strike. He lost his wicket to Usman Tariq in the eighth over. He managed to score just two runs from nine balls.
No Pollard magic in final
Pollard arrived at the crease in the eighth over. Shakib tried to accelerate in the middle overs. Meanwhile, Naseem had a heated exchange the Emirates skipper as well. In the last five overs, Emirates needed 63 runs to win. Tariq broke the partnership with Shakib's wicket. He scored 36 runs from 27 balls. Tajinder Dhillon hit a six in the same over. Naseem returned and got the prized wicket of Pollard for a run-a-ball 28. In the 18th over, David Payne struck thrice to dismiss Dhillon, Allah Ghazanfar and Shepherd. In the penultimate over, Tanveer wrapped up the proceedings with Rohid Khan's wicket. Emirates were bowled out for 136 with nine balls left in the run chase, losing the match by 46 runs.
Curran was named 'Player of the match' and 'Player of the series'. He finished as the top-scorer with 397 runs from 12 innings at an average of 49.62 and strike rate of 135.49. He scored three fifties in the season.