Vriitya Aravind redeemed himself and became the hero in the end! Rashid Khan missed the wide, slower delivery from Tanveer, backed away early and tried to drive it over the covers, chanced a desperate run, but the wicketkeeper had other plans! Erasing his previous mistake, he collected the ball and threw an accurate, lightning-fast underarm to hit the timber! That seals the victory for the Desert Vipers, who continue their flawless run and maintain their perfect record: four wins out of four!
Vipers vs MI Emirates, 9th Match at Abu Dhabi, ILT20, Dec 09 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary
RESULT
9th Match (N), Abu Dhabi, December 09, 2025, International League T20
New
MIE
Full commentary
end of over 2014 runs • 1 wicket
MIE: 158/9CRR: 7.90
Rashid Khan13 (8b 1x4 1x6)
Khuzaima Tanveer 4-0-34-2
David Payne 4-0-29-4
With today's victory, the Desert Vipers cement their dominant position at the top of the table, maintaining a perfect record of four wins in four games. Interestingly, the MI Emirates still jumped up to the number 4 spot despite their narrow loss. That concludes our coverage for today. Adios!
Player of the Match, David Payne: "We're making close finishes a pretty regular thing at the Vipers, so it's becoming the normal, really. It was a game that ebbed and flowed again. It felt like we were kind of holding on at the end, waiting for things to happen. When they did, luckily, we took a few wickets to follow, and then Rashid Khan made it a very close game at the end. Probably a good one for the neutral. The communication is always key between our bowling pack. Sam Curran, after his over, said the cross-seam was definitely a little bit sticky. Some balls were skidding; some were sticking. That two-pace nature just made it difficult to play the cross-bat shot. Nice, simple plans into the pitch worked today. I throw the odd cutter. It was a mixture, but the line and length stayed pretty simple."
Lockie Ferguson: "We've had a couple of close ones, which we don't always want, but it's nice to get over the line tonight. The key was the boys just hanging in there. There was clear communication from all the bowlers, which is one of our real strengths from last season that we've bought into this year. We could see the cross-seamers were working well, and we managed to get a few wickets. Payne bowled a hell of an over. He is probably the most experienced at working with that big boundary, taking pace off the ball, and getting the cross-seam to stand up a bit. I'm real proud of him. That last over was a big moment from Vriitya Aravind. He would have been disappointed with the one that went through, but the run-out on the last ball kept the boys alive. He plays every ball as it comes. Mistakes happen, but it was a huge moment for him. He was great for us last night, and again, he stepped up tonight with a cameo right at the end. I'm real stoked for him. [Fitness Update] Everything is okay, all good so far [laughter]."
Kieron Pollard: "That's another one that got away. Our last game, we snuck over the line where we probably shouldn't have won, and this time, it turned around on us. The Vipers bowled brilliantly, restricting us to 159. We didn't play the last few overs, particularly the final two, well. It continues to show that once you stay in the fight in cricket, you can end up losing from a winning position. And that's what happened to us tonight. The surface is the surface. I thought it was a good cricket wicket; it had something for the bowlers and something for the batters. If you put your head down and apply yourself, you're going to score runs. It was a big outfield, hit the gaps, run hard, and you get your boundary. You're not going to get the perfect wicket, and honestly, I hate to hear when people talk about the pitches. We are professionals; we have to adapt to certain things. We can't look at the pitch; we have to look at ourselves. Four guys getting caught in the deep to the big side is a fact we can't hide from, and that's exactly why we ended up losing."
10:18 pm Phew, what a thrilling finish! This match was full of twists and turns right until the very end. This is certainly not for the faint of heart, folks! The MI Emirates started the chase well, scoring 49 runs after the powerplay, even after losing Bairstow early. However, the Vipers fought back in the middle of the game after Tanveer got the wicket of Waseem. They squeezed the scoring, making the required run rate climb higher. The game turned dramatically when Hetmyer first dropped Pooran but then took an incredible catch just two balls later to dismiss him! The finish was pure drama. Payne was the hero, taking three massive wickets, including Shepherd and Pollard, in the penultimate over while giving away only one run. Tanveer held his nerve to close out the final few balls. Some late heroics from Rashid Khan in the last over, but it wasn't enough for the Emirates. In the end, it was a combination of superb teamwork, crucial individual brilliance, and nerves of steel that carried the Vipers across the finish line!
Desert Vipers won by 1 run
19.6
W
Khuzaima Tanveer to Rashid Khan, OUT
AM Ghazanfar run out (†Aravind) 0 (0b 0x4 0x6 6m) SR: 0
2 runs needed off the last ball. Curran has a long chat with Tanveer. Attacking field setup.
19.5
4
Khuzaima Tanveer to Rashid Khan, FOUR runs
Oh dear! That goes through the legs of the wicketkeeper! Full toss ball on a knee height outside off, wild swing of the bat, thick outside edge and bounces just in front of the keeper, who squats down and the ball pierces through the legs of the keeper. This is some poor stuff from Aravind behind the stumps. Rashid Khan asks whether it was over the waist height, looks okay to me though.
6 needed off 2 balls. Tanveer takes time
19.4
6
Khuzaima Tanveer to Rashid Khan, SIX runs
Rashid Khan connects this time! Tanveer bowls a back of the hand delivery wide outside off, and Rashid Khan connects with the full swing of the bat and dispatches it over the midwicket ropes
Rashid is standing outside off stump
19.3
2
Khuzaima Tanveer to Rashid Khan, 2 runs
That's up in the air and falls in the vacant mid-wicket area at the edge of the circle, Shortish ball and Rashid heaves it away, miscues the stroke and barely manages to clear the infield. Hetmyer comes forward and gathers the ball
19.3
1w
Khuzaima Tanveer to Rashid Khan, 1 wide
bowls another wide ball, this one slower outside off
19.2
•
Khuzaima Tanveer to Rashid Khan, no run
low full toss ball and Rashid shuffles across, goes for the wild swing and mistimed the stroke to the mid-off fielder, does not carry to the fielder. Decided to retain the strike, refused the single.
19.2
1w
Khuzaima Tanveer to Rashid Khan, 1 wide
bowls a wide ball outside the off-side tramline, no shot offered
19.1
•
Khuzaima Tanveer to Rashid Khan, no run
Pace on fuller length ball wide outside off, keeps it away from the hitting arc of the batter, swing and a miss from Rashid!
Khuzaima Tanveer to bowl the last over. 16 needed from 6 balls. We are down to the wire again. Rashid Khan is on strike now.
end of over 191 run • 3 wickets
MIE: 144/8CRR: 7.57 • RRR: 16.00 • Need 16 runs from 6b
Rashid Khan1 (2b)
David Payne 4-0-29-4
Lockie Ferguson 4-0-23-1
18.6
W
Payne to Woakes, OUT
Bowled him with the slower ball! A magical over from Payne! Off-cutter ball angling in the stumps, moves away from the wicket and tries to carve it through the covers, gets nowhere near the line of the ball and the bails are flying!
Chris Woakes b Payne 0 (2b 0x4 0x6 1m) SR: 0
18.5
•
Payne to Woakes, no run
Slower short of a good length ball, jams it down on the track
Chris Woakes in
18.4
W
Payne to Pollard, OUT
Hello! Double wicket strike by Payne! Short pitched ball outside off, Pollard decides to swing it away over the on-side fences, miscues the swivel pull shot and finds Nawaz near the ropes.
Kieron Pollard c Hasan Nawaz b Payne 23 (13b 2x4 1x6 30m) SR: 176.92
18.3
1
Payne to Rashid Khan, 1 run
length ball on the stumps, plays the no-look flick stroke to short fine leg, a quick single and Pollard survives in the danger zone!
18.2
•
Payne to Rashid Khan, no run
length ball on the pads, hangs back and tickles it off the bat to short fine leg
Rashid Khan in
18.1
W
Payne to Shepherd, OUT
Chips it to deep midwicket! Short pitched ball from around the wicket, pace off delivery and shuffles across to play the cross-bat stroke, swings it away and finds the sweeper fielder at the on-side area. Shepherd gives a disappointing smile and walks back slowly towards the dressing room. Game on!
Romario Shepherd c Hasan Nawaz b Payne 1 (4b 0x4 0x6 4m) SR: 25
17 runs needed off 12 balls. Who will bowl the penultimate over? It's Payne.
end of over 187 runs • 1 wicket
MIE: 143/5CRR: 7.94 • RRR: 8.50 • Need 17 runs from 12b
Romario Shepherd1 (3b)
Kieron Pollard23 (12b 2x4 1x6)
Lockie Ferguson 4-0-23-1
Noor Ahmad 4-0-31-0
17.6
1
Ferguson to Shepherd, 1 run
back of a length ball leans forward and turns it down to midwicket
17.5
•
Ferguson to Shepherd, no run
short of a good length ball defends off the front foot and connects the leading edge to the cover fielder
17.4
•
Ferguson to Shepherd, no run
shortish ball on the leg stump line, plays the pull shot and misses the length, no wide delivery signalled by the umpire
Romario Shepherd in at number 7
17.3
W
Ferguson to Tajinder Singh, OUT
straight up in the air and Curran holds on to it! Back of a length ball on the stumps, Tajinder throws his bat at it through the line of the ball, skies it high towards mid-on. Curran settles underneath and completes the catch. Some late drama!
Tajinder Singh c Curran b Ferguson 17 (7b 1x4 2x6 13m) SR: 242.85
17.3
1
Ferguson to Pollard, 1 run
short of a good length ball pokes it away from the body off the back foot, thickish inside edge and goes past the leg stump to short fine leg
17.2
4
Ferguson to Pollard, FOUR runs
thrashed through midwicket! Quicker and fuller on the pads, and Pollard whacks it across the line past the sweeper fielder for a boundary
Language
English
Instant answers to T20 questions
MI Emirates Innings
<1 / 3>