iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
Zareen became the first Indian to win multiple gold medals at the World Championships after legendary boxer Mary Kom
KT APPDOWNLOAD
DP World ILT20: MI Emirates score mammoth win over Desert Vipers
Kieron Pollard's men beat the table toppers by 157 runs at Sharjah
Zahoor Khan (left) of MI Emirates celebrates the wicket of Sam Billings of Desert Vipers at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday. — Supplied photo
It was a game that MI Emirates would like to remember for a while and one that the Desert Viper would like to forget in a hurry.
MI Emirates brought their ‘A’ game on to the park — the Sharjah Cricket Stadium — while the Desert Vipers were unable to bring theirs.
It meant that MI Emirates waltzed to a mammoth 157-run victory in the DP World IL T20, the biggest victory margin in terms of runs, in the competition.
The previous biggest margin was Vipers’ 111-run win over the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi
It was an all-round show by Kieron Pollard’s side with the batters and the bowlers coming to the fore on the night.
Their fourth win in seven matches also arrested a slide where the MI Emirates had lost two games on the bounce — to the Dubai Capitals and the Vipers — after they had begun the tournament in ominous fashion by winning three matches on the trot. Their previous game against the Gulf Giants in Dubai on Friday was abandoned due to rain.
For the Vipers, who had turned up in Sharjah after admirably defending a modest 149 against the Capitals 24 hours earlier, nothing went right from the get go.
Muhammad Waseem of MI Emirates plays a shot against Desert Vipers at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday. — Supplied photo
UAE opener Muhammad Waseem continued his impressive run for MI Emirates by coshing a scintillating 86, the top score of the match. His knock, which came from 44 deliveries, was studded with 11 boundaries and four sixes.
Pollard clubbed an unbeaten 19-ball 50, while West Indian compatriot Andre Fletcher too scored 50. Dan Mousley remained not out on 31. That saw MI Emirates rack up 241-3, the highest total of the tournament so far.
With the likes of the big-hitting Alex Hales, UAE’s Rohan Mustafa, Colin Munro, Sam Billings and Sherfane Rutherford in the opposition line-up, the stage was set for a tantalising chase in Sharjah. But it was not to be.
Pacers Fazalhaq Farooqi snapped up three scalps and UAE’s Zahoor Khan and Imran Tahir two each as the Vipers succumbed to 84 all out in just 12.1 overs, the lowest total of the competition.
BRIEF SCORES
MI Emirates beat Desert Vipers by 157 runs
MI Emirates: 241-3 (Muhammad Waseem 86, Kieron Pollard 50 not out, Andre Fletcher 50, Dan Mousley 31 not out)
Desert Vipers: 84 all out in 12.1 overs (Tom Curran 12, Mark Watt 12, Colin Munro 10; Fazalhaq Farooqi 3-13, Zahoor Khan 2-8, Imran Tahir 2-18)
More news from Sports
The winner not only surprised a quality field, but also Sheikha Hissa Hamdan Al Maktoum, who has taken over the operations of Shadwell
She wins gold in the 48 kg category at the 2023 IBA Women’s Boxing World Championships
The first game of the three-match T20 series will take place on Friday
The aftermath of the defeat to Argentina on penalties has been turbulent with several big names retiring from the game
The world No.1 added that the injury would also keep her out of Poland's Billie Jean King Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan in mid-April
The 34-year-old helped Germany to glory in Brazil in 2014 but bitterly quit the international scene after the Germans crashed out of the 2018 tournament in Russia
Usyk, the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO champion, will now seek to defend his belts against Britain's Daniel Dubois, the mandatory WBA challenger