MI Emirates qualified for the playoffs of the ILT20 after easily beating the Gulf giants in Abu Dhabi. After a collective bowling performance, Nicholas Pooran (69*) and Muhammad Wasim (59*) unbeaten partnership of 140 runs for the third wicket was crucial in MI Emirates’ victory.
A sumlibe innings by Nicholas Pooran
When the Giants came out to bat first, Rahmanullah Gurbaz opened with a big six and a four, but he did not last long at the crease and was dismissed by Fazal Haq Farooqui in the third over. Meanwhile, the Giants also lost captain James Vince to Romario Shepherd and they were in trouble with the loss of 2 wickets for 16 runs. It was two to three wickets when Asif Khan, who had shown glimpses of a counter-attack with a six and a four, fell victim to Shepherd and the Giants lost 3 for 36 in the powerplay.
The same was the case with Lokran Tucker, who lost his wicket to Arab Gul Momand after hitting two fours. The regular fall of wickets also meant that the Giants could not play freely in the middle overs and managed to score only 55 runs between the 7th and 15th overs. After this, Moeen Ali and Kyle Meyers attacked MI Emirates bowlers in the last five overs. Both the left-handed batsmen scored 15 runs in AM Ghazanfar’s over and then Shepherd hit two fours and a six.
Moeen completed his half-century in 45 balls – a slow innings, but one that took the Giants to a respectable score of 141 runs. In bowling, Giants bowled well from the start. The Irishman, Mark Adair, dismissed Jonny Bairstow not out and the batsman returned to the pavilion, but ball-tracking revealed that the ball was going over the stumps.
After holding one end for a long time, Pooran accelerated his innings by hitting a full-toss ball from Tabrez Shamsi in the 12th over. He quickly completed his first 50-run and 100-run partnership of the season by hitting three boundaries. After this, Mi Emirates quickly changed gears. Wasim hit two sixes to take his score past 50, while Pooran tried his hand at Adair’s balls and hit two consecutive sixes in the 17th over, followed by a wide to give MI Emirates victory.