ILT20 2025: Lockie Ferguson hails bowling effort after win against Gulf Giants

Desert Vipers captain Lockie Ferguson lauded his team’s bowling show after a convincing five-wicket win against Gulf Giants at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai in the ongoing ILT20 on Wednesday.

After electing to bowl first, Ferguson and Co. were able to restrict the opposition to 129-8. The Giants were struggling at 61-8 after 14.1 overs but a 34-ball 64 run knock from Tom Curran helped his team put up some runs on the board.

Sam Curran returned with impressive figures of 3-28 in his quota of four overs whereas Sri Lanka’s mystery spinner Wanindu Hasaranga bowled a fine spell of 3-10 in his four overs.

Lockie Ferguson said in the post-match presentation, “Boys are very happy, last game was a tough one for the lads, the bowling was exceptional. Was a good wicket in the end, we have talked about bowling the hard length. Mo has been leading us from the top.”

On the other hand, Max Holden scored a match-winning knock of 70 runs off just 54 balls to help his team get over the line in the run-chase.

Ferguson added, “Maxi has been unreal, he has been training so hard, he is the heartbeat of the team, nice to see him get some runs. We will see how it goes, nice to see Sherf back as well. We will have a couple of days off now, team golf day tomorrow and we will see from there.”

Hasaranga was awarded Player of the Match for his fine spell. The mystery spinner revealed that the plan was to bowl googlies.

He said after the win, “Try to bowl my basic things and the wrong’un, that’s my plan for success. I love to bowl here, even in the Asia Cup as well I took wickets. The fast bowlers did a great job and the batters have done their jobs, as a team we have done our things well.”

Desert Vipers will play their last league stage match against Dubai Capitals at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah on Monday.