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Tactical drama in ILT20! Nicholas Pooran declines to stump Holden; batter retires next ball

Soumyajit Dutta

Max Holden and Nicholas Pooran [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/X.com]Max Holden and Nicholas Pooran [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/X.com]

A tactical warfare transpired on the grounds of Abu Dhabi during the Desert Vipers vs MI Emirates clash on December 9 in ILT20, which was as exciting as the one-run thriller itself. 

As the match was won by the Vipers, defending 160 runs on board, the drama began way earlier with Max Holden and Sam Curran at the crease and MI Emirates wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran wanting to outplay an advantage.

What led to the Pooran-Holden drama?

Coming in to bat first, the Vipers started modestly with 39 runs at the end of five overs and after Andries Gous was retired hurt, Max Holden came in to fire up the attack. However, Holden couldn’t keep up with the expectations he was sent for. 

Holden was playing ball-for-ball with a strike rate of almost 100.00, which often falls below T20 standards, especially in leagues like ILT20.

MI's Nicholas Pooran, who was behind the stumps, thought of utilising Holden’s slow knock and struggle on the pitch to their advantage as the drama began in the 16th over.

What exactly happened between Holden and Pooran?

Rashid Khan came in to bowl as Vipers stood at 110 runs with Holden at 40 off 33. In the fourth ball of the over, Pooran & Co. went upstairs to review a nick off Holden’s bat for a review, which the Englishman survived, but in the final ball of the over, Pooran changed his mind to keep Holden at the crease.

As Rashid spun a good-length delivery, Holden came hard at it, dancing down the track to go for a maximum. However, he missed it as Rashid kept the ball wide. The ball went straight to Pooran, and he decided not to stump Holden. Holden, awestruck, came back to the crease, which was almost half a mile behind him.

Holden retires out soon after Pooran gave chance

Pooran’s decision not to stump Holden probably came from his slow-paced knock, as MI thought to milk the batter on the crease for a bit more since hard-hitters Shimron Hetmyer and Daniel Lawrence were on the bench. 

However, the Vipers managed to outplay Pooran as they called Holden out of the field immediately to declare him retired out, with Hetmyer coming in, who scored 15 off 9.

For the final curtain, David Payne, who came in as an impact player for the Vipers, made the difference with his four-wicket haul and clinched the victory by one run from Emirates. Khuzaima Bin Tanvir defended 15 runs in the last over to make the Vipers winner of a thriller filled with on-field drama.