Matiullah Khan

The wickets for the Vipers bowlers were shared around among all six used by Vitya Aravind, with Wazim Akram the most successful with three for 23.

There were two wickets apiece for Matiullah Khan, leg spinner Hilal Afghan and Wali Mohammed, and Sanjay Bahal picked up the other one to fall.

If the Vipers were hoping for a straightforward chase, then the Gulf Giants bowlers and fielders had other ideas, and wickets fell at regular intervals indeed.

When the scoreboard read 69 for 5, the match appeared to hang in the balance.

The recovery work for the Vipers with the ball was done by leg spinner Hilal Afgan with four for 28, and seam bowler Wali Mohammed who took three for 26.

And those two, together with another pacer, Matiullah Khan, whose three overs cost only 18 runs, were the keys in restricting MyEmirates to their eventual score.

In reply, the top six batters for the Vipers all reached double figures with Taimoor Ali's 44 from 24 balls, again including five sixes, the crucial contribution.

Although Harshit Kaushik's unbeaten 26 in 20 deliveries, together with Abdul Ghafoor's 11 not out, ensured victory was achieved.