Holden, Naseem fire Desert Vipers to the top spot

Desert Vipers secured top spot on the ILT20 points table after defeating Sharjah Warriorz, who were eliminated from the tournament. A collective bowling performance was led by Naseem Shah's three-fer (3 for 35) before Max Holden hit an unbeaten 65 to take the Vipers home with five wickets and three balls to spare.

Having been put into bat, the Warriorz began poorly with Monank Patel and Tom Abell falling in the first two overs. Johnson Charles nailed three boundaries before Naseem Shah was greeted by Tom Kohler-Cadmore with a four and a six in a 19-run over. Overs six to eight yielded only 13 runs for the Warriorz but Charles struck two sixes off Qais Ahmed as the partnership passed 50.

Just as the pair were rebuilding, Naseem castled Kohler-Cadmore with a slower delivery. Charles remained menacing, scoring two boundaries off David Payne. The game changed in the 12th over when Qais dismissed Charles and Sikandar Raza off consecutive deliveries, leaving the Warriorz five-down. James Rew made 22 off 20 before falling to Naseem, who also removed Harmeet Singh in his final over. A six by Adil Rashid took the Warriorz to 140 for 7.

The Vipers' reply began poorly at 9 for 2 in 2.2 overs after the dismissals of openers Andries Gous and Fakhar Zaman. The task fell to Max Holden and Sam Curran to rebuild. They hammered overpitched deliveries early on. In the seventh over, Holden hit two fours and a six off Raza as momentum shifted. Curran and Holden found boundaries in the middle overs before Curran launched Adil Rashid for six to bring up a 50-run partnership.

Harmeet Singh broke the stand by trapping Curran lbw for 25. Dan Lawrence hit Harmeet for a six but was caught at long-on in the bowler's next over. Harmeet seemed unplayable, claiming his third wicket by dismissing Jason Roy in the 16th over. Amid the wickets, Holden brought up his third fifty of the season.

Needing 36 off three overs, Holden and Hasan Nawaz took 14 runs off Harmeet. Holden then struck two crucial boundaries in the 19th over, reducing the equation to 9 off 6 balls. Nawaz sealed the win with two sixes.

Brief Scores: Sharjah Warriorz 140/7 in 20 overs (Johnson Charles 43, James Rew 22; Naseem Shah 3-35, Qais Ahmed 2-30) lost to Desert Vipers 144/5 in 19.3 overs (Max Holden 65*, Hasan Nawaz 25*; Harmeet Singh 3-29) by five wickets.