Adrian Holdstock (South Africa), Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afghanistan), Paul Wilson (Australia, TV)
Referee
Simon Taufel (Australia)
Toss
Desert Vipers elected to bowl
Pitch Report
The surface is very well grassed and very even, so, the new ball should do something for the seamers. Otherwise, it is a pretty good pitch for batting.
VENUE STATS
1st Innings
156Avg Runs
6Avg Wkts
132.91Avg
SR
2nd Innings
141Avg Runs
5Avg Wkts
131.53Avg
SR
Weather Update
Weather Update
Abu Dhabi,United Arab Emirates
Updated: 12 Jan 18:30
23.5°CClear
clear sky
52%
Clouds
0%
Rain %
55%
Humidity
16.5 kmph
Wind
Playing XILineups Out
Which team will win?
ADKR
DV
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Experts are creating their teams, watch this space
Expert Team 1
Kyle Mayers
D Willey
Expert Team 2
A Hales
M Amir
Venue Details
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
The surface is very well grassed and very even, so, the new ball should do something for the seamers. Otherwise, it is a pretty good pitch for batting.
The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
That's all from this thrilling encounter! The Desert Vipers take the win by 7 wickets with 8 balls to spare. Thank you for joining us for this exciting match. Switch tabs, as the second game of the night is just around the corner, with Gulf Giants facing off against Sharjah Warriorz in Dubai. This is Meeth Agrawal signing off alongside my co-commentator Bidipto Datta.
Daniel Lawrence (Player of the Match for his 70 off 39): I think the situation was nice to come into. I had to give myself some time before settling in. As Lockie said we have a good experienced bowling attack and the plans were pretty set. It's probably the most professional setup that I have ever played in.
Lockie Ferguson (Desert Vipers captain): Yeah good (On captaining for the first time in T20s). Nice to get across the line. Good to win the toss. Look I have played here. There's a bit of grass and I am a big fan of it. We have an experienced bowling attack. The plans were clear and we did pretty well.
Sunil Narine (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders captain): I think we did pretty well to get back into the game after the power play. Alishan and Phil helped us get going, we could have got more, but we got back into the act alright. It was a pitch which helped the ball seam a bit and also, made the ball turn a bit. But it was decent. We have a long way to go in this tournament. Just the first game. We need to regroup and get on the board.
5:38 pm local time (7:08 pm IST): Time now for the post-match presentation!
Desert Vipers win by 7 wickets with 8 balls to spare!
Daniel Lawrence - 70 (39) | Lockie Ferguson - 1/26 Phil Salt - 71 (49) | Shahid Bhutta - 1/27
A clinical chase from the Desert Vipers to kick off their ILT20 campaign with a well-deserved victory. Set a target of 167, the Vipers initially found themselves struggling, but a superb half-century from Daniel Lawrence steadied the ship after a slow start.
The early breakthroughs from ADKR, including wickets from Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, had them on the backfoot, but once Lawrence found his rhythm, he joined forces with Sam Curran in a crucial 95-run partnership. The duo kept the scoreboard ticking with at least a boundary every over, aided by some wayward bowling from ADKR. Narine's decision to give the pacers the ball midway through the chase proved to be a costly one, as the momentum shifted firmly in the Vipers' favor.
Lawrence, who finished on 70, punished Narine when he returned to bowl later, and after his departure, Curran continued the charge, reaching his own half-century to seal the win with 8 balls to spare.
Coming to the first innings, the Vipers' pacers, led by Lockie Ferguson in his first match as T20 captain, were outstanding, restricting ADKR to just 39/3 in the first 7 overs. However, a resilient 86-run partnership between Phil Salt and Alishan Sharafu brought the Knight Riders back into the game. Sharafu retired out at the death, paving the way for Andre Russell to join Salt and add the finishing touches, with Salt bringing up a half-century. Despite this late surge, ADKR’s total ultimately fell short as the Vipers completed the chase comfortably.
A dominant performance from the Desert Vipers to start their campaign on a high! Stay tuned for the presentations.
18.4 Ali Khan to Sherfane Rutherford, DESERT VIPERS ARE ON THE BOARD, CONVINCINGLY! Back of a length on leg-stump. Pulled around to the right of short fine-leg from the back foot and that finds the boundary to hand the Lockie Ferguson-led side their first victory!
HALF-CENTURY FOR SAM CURRAN! Just what he needed after an off day with the ball earlier in the game.
18.3 Ali Khan to Sam Curran, PUT DOWN! Back of a length on middle-stump. Punched on the back foot to the deep mid-wicket fielder. But Mayers ran in, dived, and dropped it low to his left! 50 for Curran with that single.
18.2 Ali Khan to Sam Curran, FOUR RUNS! Length ball angling in to the pads. Flicked over the in-field off the legs to the vacant deep square-leg region for a boundary!