Azam’s breezy 50 blows away Giants, Vipers boost playoff hopes

Mohammad Abdullah, Senior Sports Reporter

Azam Khan smacked the fastest fifty of the tournament after Mohammed Amir picked up three wickets as Desert Vipers made light work of Gulf Giants’ total of 160 runs to register a six-wicket victory in their DP World ILT20 match in Dubai on Saturday.

After Amir helped Vipers restrict Giants to 160, Munro -- who also scored an unbeaten fifty -- and Azam combined to take them past the target for the loss of four wickets with 19 balls remaining. Viper notched up their 3rd win of the season and moved to the third spot in the standings to boost their hopes of playoffs.

Catch the biggest cricket extravaganza in UAE. Buy your tickets for the ILT20 here: https://bit.ly/47Yc4Yr

Vipers were off to a decent start in their pursuit of 160. Rohan Mustafa and Alex Hales gave a sound start and added 23 runs for the first wicket. Rohan could not convert his start into a big innings and was caught and bowled by Carlos Brathwaite.

Hales and Munro shared a 54-run partnership for the second wicket and took the score to 77 before the former fell prey to Zubair. Hales could not get to the pitch of the ball and gave a simple catch to Vince at covers.

He smacked a blitzkrieg 30-ball 44, belting two sixes and four boundaries as the duo took almost seven overs to add 54 runs. Zubair struck again in the same over to get rid of Wanindu Hasaranga as Vipers lost third wicket, second within a span of two runs and four balls.

With more than half the way to go, the onus of taking Vipers through fell on Munro who was holding the fort. He was keeping the chase alive until Azam came.

Azam changed the complexion of the game. He tilted a see-saw match in Vipers’ favour with some hard hitting. He tore apart the Giants' bowling attack with his powerful hitting.

He made his intent clear from the beginning, getting off the mark with a six off Zubair. He changed his gears in the 14th over, hitting Jamie Overton for 14 runs. In the next over, he whipped Brathwaite for 22 runs with the help of two sixes and two boundaries as a fighting total of 160 started looking paltry.

Azam was looking unstoppable. The worst was yet to come for the Giants. The duo plundered Zubair for 26 runs. Munro also flexed his muscles and belted two consecutive sixes before Azam hit three fours to procure 26 runs from the 16th over.

Munro brought up his fifty in 33 balls with the second six while Azam also raced to his 50 in just 18 balls with the third boundary.  Earlier, Amir once again picked up three wickets to lead Vipers bowling charge. He accounted for the dismissals of Vince, Cox and Overton. He gave Vipers first breakthrough by getting Vince caught by wicket-keeper for a golden duck.

Smith and Chris Lynn stabilised the innings with a 41-run stand after James Vince was sent back to the pavillion by Amir. When Giants seemed to have recovered from the early set back, Vipers again struck and this time around Parithsana and Hasaranga.

Parithsana picked up Smith to make it 46/2. In the next over, Hasaranga had Lynn caught by Sri Lanka team Parithsana as Giants lost two wickets on the same score. The successive strike by Vipers pushed Giants on the back foot once again.

Giants kept on losing the wickets on regular intervals and failed to get the partnership going. Usman and Cox added another 19 runs for the fourth wicket to take the score to 63/4.

Usman became the second victim of Hasaranga as he holed to Rohan Mustafa of the UAE. Shimron Hetmyer scored a quick-fire 23-ball 40 and shared a couple of partnerships to pull the Giants out of rut.

Overton, who took guard along with Hetmyer, fell prey to Amir as the veteran Pakistani pacer picked up his third scalp of the match. Hetmyer batted through till the end and remained unbeaten as Giants reached the total of 160/7.

Meanwhile, in the other match, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders defeated Dubai Capitals by 29 runs.  After posting a fighting total of 183, they restricted Capitals to 154/8.

Andre Russell’s 41off 16 balls was the highlight of Knight Riders innings. He hit three sixes and three fours to spur the run rate. Jason Holder played a nervy knock of 42 off 21 with the help of four fours and three sixes but failed to take Capitals over the line.