This is not how it was supposed to end. This is not what we had manifested. But what a wonderful season this was. Sometimes wonderful things don’t have the end you’d hoped for. Sometimes they end in heartbreaks. Sometimes we just have to doff our hat to the opposition for playing better cricket on the night. 

Congratulations, Desert Vipers

MI Emirates, in fact, did a good job restricting the Vipers to 182/4 with some tight final overs. Our batters kept us in the hunt until the end too. We had hope and reason to believe. But it wasn’t to be. With regular wickets, the Vipers derailed our chase and got home to win their maiden trophy. 

Farooqi’s double strikes

One big moment of cheer for MIE came in Fazalhaq Farooqi’s first over, where he dismissed the dangerous openers, Jason Roy and Fakhar Zaman, who were off to a flier. Although Sam Curran and Max Holden, and then Dan Lawrence, got big partnerships, our bowlers kept the asking rate in check all through. 

The Waseem kind of a start

Muhammad Waseem did Muhammad Waseem things, getting the team off to a flier with his 13-ball 26. But after he fell in the sixth over, and the MIE were down at 54/4, the middle order had a lot to rebuild, and that meant taking the foot off the gas leading to the asking rate going up. They fought, hard, but it simply wasn’t out night.

MIE Fam, we know this hurts. But we are proud of our boys for carrying us this far. For all the entertainment and the good memories over the last month, let’s give them a loud shoutout!