David Payne stood up and held his nerve when it really mattered as his 4-wicket haul helped Desert Vipers remain unbeaten in another thriller against MI Emirates. David Payne was a showstopper and a cut above the rest as he held his nerve to eke out a one-run win over MI Emirates as the Vipers got home by the barest of margins. Batting first, they posted 159/4 with Max Holden top scoring with 42 off 37 balls and others chipping in while MI Emirates bowled decently.
In reply, David Payne stole the show with his 4/29 in 4 overs with his crucial penultimate over where he picked up 3 wickets. He held off MI Emirates charge where Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard threatened alongside Tajinder Singh and Rashid Khan as well. But it was not enough as the MI side fell short agonisingly by a single run as the Vipers made it 4 wins out of 4 games and stayed at the top of the table unbeaten.
All-Round contributions with the bat helped Desert Vipers post 159/4
Put into bat first, Fakhar Zaman and Andries Gous came out to open for Desert Vipers while Chris Woakes had ball in hand for MI Emirates. The openers got off to a decent start with both players complimenting each other really well. They got off the blocks decently and put on 39 for the first wicket before Gous retired hurt for 21 off 15 balls with 3 fours to his name. Max Holden came out to bat next. The duo got together and started building a partnership as the powerplay score was 51 runs in 6 overs.
Fakhar Zaman was the aggressor of the two while Holden complimented him well as they played the middle phase really well as well. The duo took the score from 39 to 90 in 11 overs before Fakhar fell to Ghazanfar for 35 off 31 balls with 4 fours to his name. Sam Curran came out to bat next to join Holden in the middle. Curran and Holden put on a stand of 28 runs as they played the remaining middle overs with both milking singles and hitting boundaries as well.
The score went to 118 in 16 overs when Holden who scored 42 off 37 balls with 3 fours to his name was told to come off as he retired out to get in the big hitters at the crease. Shimron Hetmyer came out to join Sam Curran in the middle. Hetmyer was quick off the blocks making his intentions clear. Hetmyer took down the bowling and the duo added 18 more runs to the tally before Sam fell for 19 off 19 balls with 2 fours to his name as Ghazanfar got his second wicket.
Daniel Lawrence came out to join Hetmyer in the middle to give the Vipers a good finish. Lawrence was busy and was quickly off the blocks while Hetmyer showed his power as the duo complimented each other really well. The duo put on 21 runs in double quick time before Hetmyer fell in the final over of the innings to Fazalhaq Farooqi for 15 off 9 balls with one four and one six to his name.
Hasan Nawaz came to face the final ball of the innings and remained unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball while Lawrence finished with an unbeaten 15 off 8 balls with one six to his name as Desert Vipers finished with a competitive 159/4 in 20 overs. 11 extras given by the fielding side.
MI Emirates bowled decently with Allah Ghazanfar finished with 2/32 in 4 overs while Fazalhaq Farooqi finished with 1/27 in 3 overs. Chris Woakes finished with 0/22 in 3 overs. Romario Shepherd finished with 0/16 in 2 overs. Tajinder Singh bowled 2 overs for 11 runs. Zahoor Khan bowed 4 overs and gave away 37 runs while Rashid Khan bowled 2 overs and gave away 13 runs. This meant the target for MI Emirates was 160 runs in 20 overs.
David Payne’s 4-wicket haul and last over heroics gives Desert Vipers a one-run win
Chasing 160 for the win, Muhammad Waseem and Impact Player Jonny Bairstow came out to bat for MI Emirates while Impact Player David Payne had ball in hand for Desert Vipers. The Emirates got off to a shaky start as the opening partnership was worth 14 runs. Jonny Bairstow was the first one to depart for 8 off 7 balls with a maximum to his name as Khuzaima Bin Tanvir got his man. Tom Banton came out to bat next.
Banton and Waseem started to stabilise things and built a partnership to lay the platform for the big hitters to come out to the middle. They upped the ante a bit and the powerplay score was 49/1 in 6 overs for MI Emirates. The duo put on an important 42-run stand for the second wicket before the partnership was broken with Waseem falling for 24 off 21 balls with 3 fours to his name as Tanvir got his second scalp to break the partnership. Keeper batter Nicholas Pooran came out to bat next.
Pooran also settled in with some good shots alongside Banton to take the innings ahead and stay in touch with the required rate as well. The duo built another 42-run stand for the 3rd wicket before Pooran was dismissed after getting a start as he was dismissed for 31 off 29 balls with 4 fours to his name as Sam Curran got his man. The big man Kieron Pollard the captain came out to bat next.
Soon, Tom Banton fell too with the addition of 3 more runs as he scored 34 off 29 balls with 4 fours and one six to his name as David Payne got his first wicket of the night. Tajinder Singh came out to the middle with the score at 101/4 in 14.5 overs. Thereafter, the duo built up another fiery partnership with Pollard taking the attack to the opposition while Tajinder was not to be left behind as he was quickly off the blocks.
They came in at the death overs and took the attack to the Vipers bowlers as they put up 41 runs in quick time to bring their side back on track before Tajinder was dismissed for 17 off 7 balls with one four and 2 sixes to his name as Lockie Ferguson got a huge wicket. Romario Shepherd came out to bat next and got off the mark but he did not last long and departed for 1 off 4 balls as Payne had another. Rashid Khan came out to bat next to join Pollard.
Payne had two wickets in the over as he now dismissed the big fish and set batter Kieron Pollard for 23 off 13 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name. Chris Woakes came out to bat next and fell for a silver duck as Payne had 3 wickets in an over to turn the game on its head. The score was now 144/8 in 19 overs with Allah Ghazanfar joining Rashid Khan in the middle.
With 16 needed off the last over, Tanvir had ball in hand and Rashid Khan tried his best by hitting a maximum over deep square leg and then a lucky boundary to bring the equation down to 2 off 1 ball as the height of the full toss was just fine by the bowler. But with 2 needed off 1 ball, Rashid swung and missed to the keeper. They tried to run a bye but Vritya Aravind hit the stumps at the keeper’s end as Ghazanfar was run out for 0 off 0 balls for a diamond duck.
Rashid Khan remained unbeaten on 13 off 8 balls with one four and one six to his name. MI Emirates finished with 158/9 in 20 overs with 7 extras given by the fielding side.
Impact Player David Payne was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/29 in 4 overs. Khuzaima Bin Tanvir was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/34 in 4 overs. Lockie Ferguson finished with 1/23 in 4 overs while Sam Curran finished with 1/32 in 3 overs. Noor Ahmad finished with 0/31 in 4 overs. Daniel Lawrence bowled an over for 8 runs. So, the Vipers win a thriller by a run. David Payne was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
The next match takes us back to Dubai in ILT20 2025 as Gulf Giants will be in action against Sharjah Warriorz in Match 10 of the tournament from 8 PM IST on 10th December, 2025. Let’s see if Sharjah can finally get a win in this season or whether Gulf Giants get back to winning ways after super over defeat in the previous game against Desert Vipers.
We are set for a thriller in Dubai for sure in this clash.
Also Read:Â ILT20 2025: Desert Vipers Remain At Top Of Table After Super Over Win