ILT20: Vipers pull off two-wicket win over MI Emirates through a last-ball thriller

Dubai [UAE], January 31 : Desert Vipers produced a nail-biting two-wicket win off the last ball after a fierce battle against MI Emirates in the 14th match of the ILT20 season 2 at the Dubai International Stadium. MI Emirates was restricted to 149 for 9 in 20 overs, but they fought back to reduce Vipers to 62 for 5. The fate of the match swung like a pendulum till the last over.
Vipers' Sherfane Rutherford lit up hopes of a victory through a quick 35 runs after taking 17 runs off Boult's 17th over with a six and two boundaries. Then Bravo had Rutherford caught by Kusal Perera at mid-on off a slower delivery. Shaheen Afridi and Luke Wood took up the challenge of scoring 17 runs from the last 12 balls and 10 off the last over from Trent Boult to win off the last ball. They ran for the three runs needed to win off the last ball.
Earlier MI Emirates' batting cracked against the tight bowling of Mohammad Amir (3 for 26), Luke Wood (2 for 32) and Matheesha Pathirana (2 for 32), according to a release.
Their total was shaped by Ambati Rayudu and Akeal Hosein's 49-run partnership in 45 deliveries for the fifth wicket through knocks of 23 and 24 runs respectively. Tim David's cameo of 28 off 14 balls gave some respectability to the total.
Chasing the target, Vipers's opener Rohan Mustafa went for his shots and scored 18 runs with two boundaries and a six before being bowled by Fazalhaq Farooqi. UAE's left-arm pacer Muhammad Rohid struck twice in the fifth over to clean bowl opener Alex Hales for 3 and had Adam Hose brilliantly caught by a leaping Dwayne Bravo at first slip for a duck. Farooqi picked the price wicket of skipper Colin Munro caught behind by wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran for 4.
With the score reading 28 for 4 in 5.3 overs, Azam Khan walked in and hit two successive boundaries off the first two deliveries he faced off Farooqi. Wanindu Hasaranga too sped up the run flow and put on 34 runs for the fifth wicket before Rohid dismissed the aggressive Khan, caught by Boult at deep mid-wicket for 20. At the halfway mark, the Vipers needed 76 more runs. When Hasaranga too slapped Dwayne Bravo straight to Boult at deep extra cover for 26, Emirates took a firm grip on the match. Sherfane Rutherford, however, changed the course of the match through his 35 runs before the last over drama.
Earlier, Vipers, who had lost three out of their four matches, won the toss, and elected to bowl against table toppers MI Emirates. Opener Kusal Perera fell to the second ball of the first over from Mohammad Amir edging to wicketkeeper Azam Khan for a duck. Muhammad Waseem scored two boundaries off Shaheen Afridi and went on to hit Amir for six and two boundaries to take 13 runs off the third over. He also hit a huge six off Luke Wood's first ball of the fourth over but fell to the fourth ball hitting straight to Afridi at mid-wicket for 19.
Skipper Nicholas Pooran, who joined Andre Fletcher, began with a boundary off the first ball he faced and then effortlessly lifted Afridi for a straight six. Wood went on to clean bowl Fletcher, who went for a slog shot and got an inside edge to disturb his wicket for 18. Pooran too departed caught brilliantly by a diving Ali Naseer at the gully off Matheesha Pathirana for 17.
Ambati Rayudu and Akeal Hosein took the score to 107 in 15 overs. Pathirana provided the breakthrough removing Hosein caught and bowled for a run-a-ball 24. Wanindu Hasaranga struck to remove Rayudu too, caught by Afridi at long-on for 23. Tim David and Dwayne Bravo added another 37 runs before Amir, who bowled the last over, removed David for 28 and Trent Boult off successive deliveries to stop Emirates from reaching the 150-run mark.
"It feels great to get a win and those two points. There were a couple of rash shots, but I can't fault the intent, but we gotta be a little bit smarter. It's always nice to win those tight games," Winning captain Colin Munro said as quoted by a release from ILT20.
"It was an interesting game, and I am happy I did something for the team as I thought Rutherford would be the player of the match. We bowled in partnership, and it is important to communicate with each other. Also, Shaheen and me are sharing the experience, and that helps," Player of the Match Mohammad Amir said.
Losing skipper Nicholas Pooran remarked: "We felt we were 10-15 runs short, but in all honesty we felt we could make it an interesting game if we could get a couple of early wickets. It is a tough one to swallow though. We'll definitely rebuild. It just wasn't enough today."