'Hales Storm in ILT20'- Twitterati laud Alex Hales as he becomes the first centurion of the tournament

Desert Vipers have done the double over the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in ILT20 2023.

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Alex Hales
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Alex Hales. (Photo Source: ILT20)

The Desert Vipers completely outplayed the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders convincingly by 111 runs in the ninth match of the International League (ILT20) at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday, January 20. While this emphatic win has made the Vipers one of the firm favorites to win this competition, it has put Abu Dhabi’s chances in total disarray and they have to pull up their socks after their overall net run rate has been heavily damaged.

Notably, the Desert Vipers had also succeeded in registering a comfortable seven-wicket victory over the Knight Riders with more than two overs to spare in their reverse fixture. Even now the Colin Munro-led side has got the job done without breaking a sweat.

Abu Dhabi skipper Sunil Narine won the toss and elected to bowl first. Even though Andre Russell struck in the very first over to remove Rohan Mustafa, the Knight Riders’ joy was short lived. Alex Hales and captain Colin Munro then took the attack to the bowlers and left them shell-shocked with their amazing power-hitting abilities.

The duo added 164 runs for the second wicket. While Munro scored a 41-ball 56, it was Hales who stole the show with a spectacular century. His thunderous 59-ball 110 powered the Vipers to a mammoth total of 219/4. For Abu Dhabi, only Lahiru Kumara (2/31) and Andre Russell (1/47) could make some impact with the ball.

Desert Vipers bowlers make easy work of Abu Dhabi batters

In reply, the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders lost the plot of this humungous run chase right from the word ‘go’ as none of their batters got off to a start. The Desert Vipers bowlers kept picking up wickets at regular intervals to keep a check on the run-scoring.

It was courtesy of Caribbean power-hitter Andre Russell that the Knight Riders were able to get past 100 runs. Nonetheless, once his enterprising knock of 57 from 29 balls came to an end, Abu Dhabi were bundled out for 108 in the 16th over.

Here’s how Twitterati reacted to the Desert Vipers’ colossal win

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