Dubai: Third time’s a charm. Third time lucky. These are two popular sayings in the English language. It’s as if the first two attempts were stumbling blocks, they were launchpads for something that was inevitable. For Desert Vipers, that was the ILT20 title on Sunday at the Dubai Cricket Stadium. Desert Vipers defeated MI Emirates (MIE) by 46 runs in a one-sided final in Dubai. They had been here, under the Ring of Fire, twice and tasted defeated both times.
This time, it felt different. Desert Vipers were cut above the rest all season. The Vipers scarcely put a foot wrong, losing just two of their ten matches. Vipers asserted their dominance over MI Emirates twice in the knockouts, cruising to a 45-run win in Qualifier 1 before outclassing them yet again in the final.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!When they met MIE once again in the final, they were contesting against not just a team that has triumphed in every T20 league across the world, they were facing a side that was led by a perennial champion in the form of Kieron Pollard.The early signs were that things would go away from the Vipers’ grasp again.
Desert Vipers team celebrate after winning the title (ILT20)
Toss came out in favor of MI Emirates and they chose to field on a surface that has seen the team batting second triumph more often than the first.Andries Gous, the wicketkeeper-batter, who had scored an unbeaten 120 against MIE in the Qualifier, was out with a calf injury.Teams had on an average scored 154.66 runs when batting first at this venue this season. Dubai Capitals had produced the biggest total – 186 against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders – and went on to win by 83 runs.Clearly, score big and put things beyond MIE would have been the mantra for the Sam Curran-led Desert Vipers.
Sam Curran of Desert Vipers raises his bat after scoring a fifty during the final of the DP World International League T20 between Desert Vipers and MI Emirates at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 4 January 2026. (ILT20)
Three boundaries in four balls in the third over showed that intent from Fakhar Zaman and Jason Roy in the third over. But a few balls later, both perished in the gap of four balls, falling to Fazalhaq Farooqi, and it brought out England’s Sam Curran to the middle.Curran, who had seen the team fall short last season, had picked up the leadership duties from Lockie Ferguson. Pollard spoke about Curran’s leadership in the chat before the final.“I was reading somewhere about Sam’s leadership, and that he is unbeaten as captain,” Pollard said. “Everything is leaning in his favour, which is a good thing – not just for Sam, but for future reference.”
Sam Curran plays a shot in the final. (ILT20)
Individually, Curran had been a top performer for his side. Having scored 323 runs from 11 matches, he needed to deliver in this pressure moment, with two wickets falling in quick succession.He took his time to get going. In the first five balls, he failed to get off the mark. And once he did, he blazed four consecutive boundaries. And then there was another lull. He went 13 balls without hitting a boundary, including six dot balls. Then came another four. In the next spell of 21 balls, he hit further three boundaries. Evidently, the objective was to bide time on the low-scoring track.Romario Shepherd’s errant deliveries – one full and wide, the other short on middle and off – allowed Curran to relax his arms and tonk two maximums.By the end of it all, Curran remained unbeaten on 74 from 51 balls – it wasn’t a gun blazing knock by any stretch of the imagination but it had done the job for the team. From reeling at 36 for 2 in the fourth over, they had reached 182m for 4, helped in part by MIE bowling 11 wides or nearly two more overs.
Desert Vipers players celebrates the wicket of Tom Banton of MI Emirates during the final of the DP World International League T20 between Desert Vipers and MI Emirates at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 4 January 2026. (ILT20)
When he got the ball, Curran was smashed for 24 runs from two overs but his teammates had done the job for him. David Payne took 3 for 42, Naseem Shah picked 3 for 18 and Usman Tariq’s tricky bowling action and variety fetched him 2 for 20.Maybe this third time lucky, third time’s the charm was meant to be. MIE were chasing on the night for a sixth match in a row and had won four times. Both of the two defeats during this run came against Vipers.
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Curran, deservedly, will take in the applause. As the last wicket fell, he raised his hands, clapped multiple times before embracing his team as the Player of the Match, winner of the Green Belt and Red Belt for second year running.Brief Scores Desert Vipers: 182 for 4 in 20 overs (Sam Curran 74 not out, Jason Holder 41; Fazallaq Farooqi 2/33) MI Emirates: 136 all out in 18.3 overs (Shakib Al Hasan 36; Naseem Shah 3/18, David Payne 3/42)
