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.
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 wicketand took the scoreto 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.