‌ILT20 | Amir-Azam prowess outshines Giants as Vipers jam points table with convincing victory

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Azam Khan’s rapid fifty coupled with Alex Hales and Colin Munro’s crucial knocks eased the chase for the Desert Vipers after Mohamad Amir’s three-fer restricted the Gulf Giants to a below-par total. They are the fourth team to stack the league table with six points to their name.

Opting to field first in the crucial fixture to dictate the ILT20 playoff scenario, Desert Vipers drew the first blood via Mohammad Amir who ended James Vince's stay at the crease in the first over. Jamie Smith and Chris Lynn consolidated the innings as they decided to play through the powerplay and amassed 41 runs. However, the pair failed to extend their effort after Matheesha Pathirana outfoxed Jamie Smith on the final ball of the seventh over. The Desert Vipers piled on the pressure up with Wanindu Hasaranga outwitting a well-set Lynn and Usman Khan to push the Gulf Giants to 65/4 after 11.3 overs. Capitalizing on the exerted pressure, Amir and Pathirana removed semi-set Jordan Cox and Gerhard Erasmus respectively to curtail the Giants to 114/6 after 16 overs. Eventually, Shimron Hetmyer countered the Vipers bowlers during the slog overs to rack up an unbeaten 23-ball 40 propelling the score to 160/7.

Similar to their counterparts, the Giants lost a solitary wicket inside the powerplay as Carlos Brathwaite ended up completing a brilliant reflexive catch of his bowling to send Rohan Mustafa back to the dugout. Unbothered by the early jolt, Alex Hales and Colin Munro played their natural game and capitalized on the looseners to accumulate 42 runs inside the field restrictions. After a cautious approach against Zauhaib Zubair, the pair extracted 29 runs in the next three overs to take the tally to 77/1 midway through the chase. However, Zubair broke the 54 runs second-wicket stand after outsmarting Hales (44) before claiming the scalp of Wandindu Hasaranga in the same over. Just when the Giants thought that they had gained a foothold in the game, Azam Khan entered the fray and accelerated the run rate after a couple of watchful overs. While Munro anchored the innings, Azam ensured that the pair whacked 22 and 26 runs off consecutive overs to curtail the equation to 2 runs required from the remaining four overs. While Munro was outdone by Blessing Muzarabani for 51 off 36 balls at the fag end, a Giants win was improbable as an on-song Azam steered them home with an unbridled 20-ball 50.



Power hitting

Outstanding spell

Back in form

The issue

Great outing

On fire

The comparison

Fear is real

What a spell!

No roots

 

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