Desert Vipers 182 for 4 (Curran 74*, Holden 41, Farooqi 2-33) beat MI Emirates 136 (Shakib 36, Naseem 3-18, Payne 3-42, Tariq 2-20, Tanveer 2-22) by 46 runs

After two heartbreaks, it was third time lucky for Desert Vipers as they broke the final hoodoo, defeating MI Emirates by 46 runs to claim their maiden ILT20 title in Dubai.

The win was headlined by captain Sam Curran, who held the Vipers innings together with an unbeaten 74 off 51 balls. He was helped by Max Holden (41 off 32) and Dan Lawrence (23 off 15) as Vipers put up an impressive 182 for 4 in their 20 overs.

MIE never got their chase going, losing wickets at regular intervals. Naseem Shah was at his fiery best, picking up 3 for 18 in his four overs, while Usman Tariq curbed the runs in the middle overs, returning 2 for 20. David Payne also picked up 3 for 42, all his wickets coming in an over, as MIE were bowled out for 136 in 18.3 overs. It was fitting that the most consistent team of the season took home the title.

Vipers' win means that ILT20 has now had a different winner in each of the first four seasons - Gulf Giants, MIE and Dubai Capitals had won the first three.

Vipers go big despite Farooqi double-blow

Fakhar Zaman didn't take time to go after Shakib Al Hasan, depositing him over wide long-on second ball of the innings. MIE were sloppy with their fielding, and both Fakhar and Jason Roy cashed in. After Fakhar collected a boundary off the first ball off AM Ghazanfar, Roy hit left-arm quick Muhammad Rohid for back-to-back fours as Vipers raced to 34 after three overs.

But Fazalhaq Farooqi helped MIE hit back with a double-wicket opening over. Roy first flat-batted a short-of-a-length delivery straight to short midwicket before Farooqi cleaned up Fakhar with a peach of an inducker that pitched just outside off and swung back in breaching the opener's stumps. Curran took five balls to get off the mark but closed out the powerplay in style with three straight fours off Farooqi as Vipers reached 59 for 2.

Vipers build around Curran

While Holden took his time to settle in, Curran kept the scorecard ticking. He pulled offspinner Tajinder Singh twice through midwicket before guiding Kieron Pollard past short third. Holden, going just about a-run-a-ball, found his groove as well as he took Tajinder inside out over the covers and then planted him over long-on as Vipers raced past 100 in the 12th over.

Mystery spinner Arab Gul broke the 89-run third-wicket stand by accounting for Holden but Lawrence ensured the momentum wasn't lost. He smoked Gul over the covers second ball before Curran reached his fifty off 39 balls as Vipers eyed a late push. That came via a 21-run 18th over with Curran and Lawrence sending Romario Shepherd over the fence three times. Vipers collected 46 runs off the last four overs to breach the 180-mark.

MIE stumble in chase

Muhammad Waseem, MIE's star of the ILT20, started the chase briskly. He clubbed Payne over deep midwicket, while Andre Fletcher sent fast bowler Khuzaima Tanveer straight down the ground for six. Though Fletcher fell, mistiming Naseem to deep midwicket, Waseem kept going. He pulled Naseem through midwicket and then edged Curran past the wicketkeeper. But a flurry of wickets dented MIE's chase.

Naseem struck for the second time when his pacy indipper had Tom Banton's bat turning in his hand for a simple catch to Curran at mid-on for 7. Tanveer then got the prized wicket of his countryman Waseem, who in a bid to steer the ball fine, could only manage a thick edge to the wicketkeeper as MIE stumbled to 46 for 3 in six overs.

Tariq then got into the act, sending back Sanjay Krishnamurthi. Having managed just 2 off 8, Krishnamurthi tried to pull Tariq over deep midwicket but could only manage a miscue and Hassan Nawaz completed a stunning diving catch low to his right.

A win at last for Vipers

With the required rate touching close to 11, it was down to the two experienced heads Shakib and Pollard to try and conjure some magic. They added 60 off 45 balls, but Vipers maintained their lines, not giving much away on a surface which had something for the bowlers throughout. With the required rate almost 14 at the start of the 16th over, Shakib tried to haul Tariq over long-on but failed to generate enough power with Tanveer doing the rest.

Pollard fell six balls later and with that went MIE's chances of a second title. Payne picked up three wickets in an over before Tanveer closed the chase. MIE lost their last six wickets for just 22 runs in 3.3 overs to go down in a heap.