Desert Vipers ride on Hales' half-century to thwart Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by 53 runs

Dubai [UAE], January 18 (ANI): The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders put up a stunning all-round display as they banked on Alex Hales' half-century, three wickets from Nathan Sowter and three incredible catches from Luke Wood to hand the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders a 53-run defeat at the Dubai International Stadium in the ongoing ILT20.
With four victories in their first four matches, the Vipers lead the points table with eight points, a release from the ILT20 stated.
Chasing 194, the Knight Riders got off to a solid start courtesy of Joe Clarke, but a middle-innings collapse saw them slip to a massive defeat at the Dubai International Stadium.
The Vipers took to the field in their green kit, celebrating their second annual Sustainability Match, as the Dubai International Stadium marked the occasion by trialling new initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of cricket matches.
With a steep target ahead of them, the Knight Riders got off to a shaky start as Phil Salt fell to Mohammad Amir in the first over, but Clarke took matters into his own hands. The keeper-batsman struck three successive boundaries in Amir's next over to get the Knight Riders going on a warm evening in Dubai. With Kyle Mayers slow to get off the blocks, Clarke was on a mission to score at least a boundary every over and he did just that to power his side to a comfortable 54/1 at the end of the powerplay.
It took the Knight Riders 7.5 overs to strike their first six as Mayers got the job done, but the West Indian batter's innings of 21 came to an end right after as Luke Wood held on to a stunning self-assisted catch on the boundary ropes. Clarke brought up his half-century with a fine boundary off Dan Lawrence and just when it seemed like the Knight Riders were in the driver's seat, the wickets came tumbling down.
The Knight Riders lost three wickets in seven balls as Nathan Sowter dismissed Charith Asalanka and a stroke of luck saw Clarke depart too. Sunil Narine, the new man in the crease, hit the ball straight back at Sowter and it ricocheted off his arm to crash onto the stumps. Clarke was outside his crease and had to make the long walk back to the pavilion. Narine fell soon after as Wood took his third catch of the evening and the Knight Riders found themselves reeling at 90/5 in 12 overs.
The Desert Vipers seized complete control of the game as Sowter came back to haunt the opposition with two wickets in the 13th over. He first accounted for Laurie Evans when Suri took a brilliant catch behind the stumps and the dangerous Andre Russell followed him soon as Wood put in a stunning effort on the boundary. He took the catch but sensed he may go over the ropes and threw the ball towards DA Payne, all while being mid-air. That meant the Knight Riders were down to 98/7 and the required run rate was well over 13 runs per over.
Wanindu Hasaranga snuffed any hope of a late comeback from the Knight Riders as he got David Willey with a peach of a yorker and then sent Jason Holder - who struck 27 in nine deliveries - with a marvellous direct hit from cover. Dhruv Parashar picked up the last wicket as the Desert Vipers extended their unbeaten run to four games.
Earlier, the Vipers elected to bat first and Alex Hales anchored their innings with some brilliant strokeplay. Hales and Fakhar Zaman looked in good touch, but Jason Holder struck in his first delivery as he dismissed the Pakistani batsman in the fourth over. Hales, though, kept the scoreboard ticking and the Vipers reached 61-1 at the end of the powerplay after Shahid Bhutta conceded 22 runs in the sixth over.
Hales brought up his 50 in 29 balls, and that too in some style, as he smashed Vijayakanth Viyaskanth for back-to-back sixes. Dan Lawrence gave Hales perfect company as the two of them ensured the run rate did not drop and put up 69 runs for the second wicket. David Willey got the all-important breakthrough when Andre Russell took a sharp catch at short third man to send Hales back to the pavilion for a solid 58.
Lawrence upped the ante thereon as he raced closer to a 50 with a bunch of boundaries, the highlight amongst them was a stunning helicopter shot for a maximum. The Englishman was given a lease of life when he was dropped on 48 by Sunil Narine, but his luck did not last long as he fell two deliveries later to Holder for a well-earned 49.
Sam Curran and Azam Khan took the baton from Lawrence as they clobbered a barrage of boundaries to inch closer to a massive target. Khan was in sublime form and played the perfect role of a pinch-hitter as Bhutta, once again, gave away 22 runs in the 18th over. Khan's big-hitting cameo - 21 runs in nine deliveries - threatened to take the game away from the Knight Riders, but Holder put in an inspired performance to restrict the Vipers to 193/5.
As quoted in a release from ILT20, Player of the match, Luke Wood, said: "This has never happened before (winning the award for fielding). I was just trying to get under those catches. You just try to take the catch and hope to get a team-mate for an assist. I'm glad Payne was there to complete that (Russell's) catch."
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders captain, Sunil Narine, said: "It was a good wicket and we backed our batters to get the total any day. When there's a short side, you try to attack it. They did it better. We lost 3-4 wickets in two overs and that put us on the back foot." (ANI)