We had the first real thriller of ILT20 2025 as two unbeaten sides Desert Vipers and Gulf Giants clashed with each other. The pendulum swung from one team to another but it was the Desert Vipers who held their nerves in the end to secure a win in Super Over as neither team could be separated after 40 overs of cricket. Put into bat first, Gulf Giants rode on another electrifying innings from Pathum Nissanka and others chipping in to post a challenging 179/5 in 20 overs.
In the chase, Daniel Lawrence was the star for Desert Vipers with 56 off 31 balls while captain Sam Curran made 44 off 36 balls. For Gulf Giants Azmatullah Omarzai was the star with 4 wickets and bowling the last over as it was a thriller yet again. The match went into the Super Over in which Daniel Lawrence once again made 10 off 4 balls in the score of 13/1 and then Gulf Giants could muster only 9 runs as Naseem Shah held his nerve to make it 3 wins out of 3 and the top of the table for Desert Vipers.
Pathum Nissanka’s fiery half-century helped Gulf Giants post 179/5
Put into bat first, Pathum Nissanka and Rahmanullah Gurbaz came out to bat for Gulf Giants while Naseem Shah had ball in hand for Desert Vipers. The openers begun well for the Giants and got off to a solid start. Nissanka was the aggressor of the two while Gurbaz complimented him really well. The Giants went through the powerplay unscathed as they scored 58/0 in 6 overs with Nissanka being the dominant partner. The duo put on 73 for the first wicket inside 7 overs before Nissanka fell to Noor Ahmad for 56 off 29 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name.
James Vince came out to bat next. Vince and Gurbaz got together and built a partnership as well as Gurbaz was the aggressor this time while Vince played second fiddle. They put on 55 for the second wicket before Vince fell for 25 off 22 balls with 2 fours to his name as Tanvir got his man. Captain Moeen Ali came out to bat next. Tanvir got two in the over as the other set batter Gurbaz was dismissed for 41 off 31 balls with one four and 3 sixes to his name.
Azmatullah Omarzai came out to bat next to join Moeen Ali at the middle. The duo of Moeen and Omarzai got together after the double blow and built a partnership to take the innings forward as the Giants despite the quick loss of wickets had wickets in hand. The duo put on 31 for the 4th wicket before Omarzai fell for 20 off 13 balls with one four and one six to his name as Noor Ahmad got another. Tom Moores the Impact Player came out to bat next to join Moeen Ali.
The duo added 6 more runs to the tally before Moeen fell for 11 off 11 balls with one boundary to his name to David Payne. Gerhard Erasmus came out to bat next with 10 balls to go and the score at 165. The duo of Moores and Erasmus added 14 runs off the last 10 balls with Moores remaining unbeaten on 10 off 8 balls while Erasmus was unbeaten on 7 off 6 balls with a boundary to his name as the Gulf Giants finished with 179/5 in 20 overs. 9 extras given by the fielding side.
For the Desert Vipers, Khuzaima Bin Tanvir was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/23 in 4 overs. Noor Ahmad finished with 2/47 in 4 overs. David Payne finished with 1/28 in 4 overs. Naseem Shah finished with 0/37 in 4 overs. Sam Curran finished with 0/33 in 3 overs. Daniel Lawrence finished with 0/7 in 1 over. This meant that Desert Vipers needed 180 runs to win off 20 overs.
Daniel Lawrence’s 56 ensures parity before the Desert Vipers won in Super Over
Chasing 180 for the win, Fakhar Zaman and Andries Gous came out to bat for Desert Vipers while Nuwan Thushara had ball in hand for Gulf Giants. The Vipers got off to a shaky start as Zaman struggled for runs and timing in the powerplay. The opening partnership did not last long as Zaman fell for 1 off 9 balls with Azmatullah Omarzai drawing first blood for the Giants. Impact Player Max Holden came out to bat next. Gous was the next one to go as he fell for 11 off 9 balls with 2 boundaries to his name as Mark Adair got his man.
Captain Sam Curran came out to bat next. Curran and Holden started to build the partnership from 14/2 in 3.2 overs. They played through the remainder of the powerplay as the score after 6 overs was 35/2. Curran was the aggressor as the impact player went at run a ball as the duo put on 48 for the third wicket. It was Holden who fell for 15 off 15 balls with one four to his name to leave the Vipers at 62/3 in 9 overs when Daniel Lawrence walked out to the middle.
The two Englishmen combined to form an important partnership as Lawrence took his time initially before switching gears while Sam Curran was playing at the right tempo that was needed. Both of them complimented each other well to lay the platform for the side. The duo put on 60 for the 4th wicket off 37 balls with Lawrence being the aggressor while Curran played his part. The partnership was broken when Sam fell for 44 off 36 balls with one four and 3 sixes to his name as Nuwan Thushara got his man.
Shimron Hetmyer came out to the middle in the 16th over and was quick off the blocks hitting fours and sixes when the team required. The duo of Hetmyer and Lawrence added 20 in 13 balls before Hetmyer fell after a breezy cameo of 16 off 8 balls with 2 fours and a maximum to his name as Omarzai got another wicket. Hasan Nawaz came out to bat next. Omarzai got two in the over as Lawrence after scoring his fifty fell with the set batter dismissed on 56 off 31 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes to his name.
Khuzaima Bin Tanvir came out to bat next joining Nawaz in the middle. The duo added 11 more runs before Nawaz was dismissed for 11 off 4 balls with one four and one six to his name as Thushara got another wicket to his name. The score was now 160/7 in 18.3 overs when Naseem Shah came out to bat next.
With 13 needed off the last over, Tanvir launched Omarzai for the maximum as the equation came down to 7 off 5 balls. The next ball there was another twist as Tanvir fell for 7 off 3 balls with a maximum to his name going for the big one and holding out to Gurbaz in the deep. Vritya Aravind came out to bat with the score reading 173/8 in 19.2 overs and 7 needed off 4 balls as he joined Naseem in the middle.
The equation boiled down to 3 off 1 ball as the batters completed the double while Naseem looking for the third run was run out for 2 off 3 balls as Desert Vipers finished at exactly 179/9 in 20 overs with 12 extras given by the fielding side. Aravind was unbeaten on 4 off 3 balls.
Azmatullah Omarzai was the pick of the bowlers for Gulf Giants with figures of 4/32 in 4 overs. Nuwan Thushara finished with 2/33 in 4 overs. Mark Adair finished with 1/36 in 4 overs while Haider Razzaq finished with 1/45 in 4 overs. Moeen Ali bowled 2 overs for 13 runs while Liam Dawson finished with 0/18 in 2 overs. There was one run out in the innings. This meant the scores were tied and we went into a super over.
Desert Vipers came out to bat first with Shimron Hetmyer and Daniel Lawrence starting proceedings while Nuwan Thushara bowled the super Over. Hetmyer managed on 2 off 2 balls but was unbeaten while Lawrence made 10 off 4 balls with a maximum to his name and he got out off the last ball caught by Dawson as the Vipers finished with 13/1 in the Super Over with 14 the target for Gulf Giants.
Chasing 14 to win, Moeen Ali and Impact Player Tom Moores came out to bat while Naseem Shah had the ball in hand for the Vipers. Naseem bowled 2 wides and one waist high no ball but held his nerve as Ali and Moores could not get a single boundary and finished with 9/0 in 6 balls with Moeen unbeaten on 5 off 6 balls while Moores was unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball. So, the Vipers won the thrilling contest in super over with Daniel Lawrence awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
For the first time, the bandwagon moves to Abu Dhabi as the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium is set to host its first match in ILT20 2025 as MI Emirates will lock horns with Desert Vipers the same team that played the super over game against Gulf Giants. The match is from 8 PM IST onwards on 9th December, 2025. We have to wait and see who comes out on top and whether the Vipers can come out on top and keep their unbeaten run going.
An interesting clash awaits us all in Abu Dhabi.
Also Read: ILT20 2025: Romario Shepherd’s All-Round Show Gives MI Emirates Their 1st Win