Desert Vipers captain Colin Munro showed great sportsmanship by withdrawing a run out appeal against Sharjah Warriors batter and his New Zealand teammate Martin Guptill in an International League T20 (ILT20) match on Sunday, January 28.
Sharjah Warriors beat Desert Vipers by seven runs in match number 13 of ILT20 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Sent into bat after losing the toss, Sharjah Warriors put up 174/7 on the board. In the chase, Desert Vipers were held to 167/7.
On the first ball of the 12th over during Sharjah Warriors’ innings, Joe Denly smashed a full delivery from leg-spinner Shadab Khan down the ground. However, Guptill, who was at the non-striker’s end, could not get out of the way of the hard-hitting stroke in time.
The ball appeared to hit him on the glove and deflected towards the bowler, who took out the bails with the non-striker out of his crease. Desert Vipers captain Munro, however, decided to withdraw the appeal and Guptill thus carried on batting.
Guptill ended up contributing 39 off 32 balls, hitting four fours and a six. He was eventually dismissed by Shaheen Afridi. Skipper Tom Kohler-Cadmore top-scored for Sharjah Warriors, hammering 68 off 34 balls, a fiery knock that featured two fours and eight sixes. Denly remained unbeaten on 22 off 24 balls. For Desert Vipers, Luke Wood and Wanindu Hasaranga took three scalps each.
In the chase, Desert Vipers suffered a massive setback early as Chris Woakes dismissed Munro for a duck second ball. Opener Alex Hales clobbered 61 off 40 balls, with the aid of three fours and five sixes.
Azam Khan also contributed 35 off 22, but most of the others failed as Desert Vipers fell short of the target. For Sharjah Warriors, Daniel Sams and Woakes picked up two wickets each.
Desert Vipers are languishing at last position in ILT20 points table
Desert Vipers are having a poor ILT20 campaign. They have played four matches, losing three of them, and are last in the points table. They began the tournament with a six-wicket loss to Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, before beating Gulf Giants by six wickets.
In their third match, they again went down to Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by six wickets. They competed well against Sharjah Warriors in their previous match, but could not get past the line. Desert Vipers’ next match will be against MI Emirates on January 30.
Get Lightning Fast Live Cricket Scores of your Favourite Matches only on the Cric Rocket App
Quick Links
More from Sportskeeda
Edited by Renin Wilben Albert