LONDON: The Desert Vipers cruised to a comfortable six-wicket win over the Sharjah Warriors in final league match of the International League T20 in Sharjah on Sunday.

In a rain-delayed match, which was reduced to an 18-overs a side contest, a fine bowling display from Vipers’ Nathan Sowter (3 wickets for 21 runs) and Matheesha Pathirana (3 for 28), well backed by Sam Curran (2 for 29), restricted the Warriors to 121 for 9 in 18 overs.

Vipers then raced to the target in 12.5 overs with openers Phil Salt (30) and Alex Hales putting on a 50-run partnership in 23 balls, followed by a 49-run partnership between skipper Colin Munro (27) and Dinesh Chandimal (24 not out) for the fourth wicket.

The Vipers, who were eliminated before the start of the match, won with 31 balls to spare. This victory helped them push the Warriors to the bottom of the table and ensured they took the fifth place.

Player of the match, Vipers bowler Sowter, revealed how he grabbed his three wickets.

“The ball was staying a bit low, so I was trying to land it on a length and keep it on the stumps. I just backed my ability to do it again and again, and tonight I got the rewards,” he said.

His captain, Colin Munro, gave an honest appraisal of the team’s performance throughout the ILT20 campaign. 

“To be brutally honest, we haven't played good enough cricket throughout the tournament. One person who stuck up their hand with the bat was Alex Hales. We managed to adapt to the conditions well, Salt has played in two games and has performed admirably for us, and Alex (Hales) is one of the best openers in the world.”

Warriors’ skipper Kohler-Cadmore hoped that his team would make a strong comeback, saying: “We have experienced highs and lows, so it's somewhat expected for us to be where we are. We're trying to take away positives from this, and hopefully, the guys will make a strong comeback next year and perform well.”