The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
MI Emirates keeps their hope alive in the ILT20 and will get a chance tomorrow to get through to the final. It will be a tough battle against the Gulf Giants who did brilliantly in the group stages. The tournament is over for the Dubai Capitals. They will aim to make a solid base and come back strong next year. We will be back with the Qualifier 2 clash tomorrow. Till then it's good-bye from the commentary box. This is Arya Sekhar Chakraborty signing off also on behalf of my fellow commentator and good mate Karthik Raj. Keep following Sportskeeda for all the latest sporting actions.
Nicholas Pooran (Player of the Match): Yeah I knew I had to get the job done today. We got a pretty good start in the powerplay and I continued the job beyond that. Have been batting pretty nicely in the tournament. It’s just one of those nights when you get going from ball one. I will take that (on the way he was hitting the balls). Hundred percent confidence as professionals. We have to come back tomorrow and switch it on again. The bowlers did a fantastic job, restricting Dubai to 160-odd. The team is coming together nicely and looking forward to tomorrow. We try to take information from each other and it is working at the moment.
Kieron Pollard (MI Emirates captain): Yeah of course, we wanted to win the toss coz you never know what the Sharjah pitch has to offer. I still thought we allowed them to score 15 runs too many. We were right in the game after restricting them to 20 in the powerplay. Congrats to the bowlers, we have to be a bit more cleaner on the field. These are the things that cost in knockout games but luckily it didn’t cost us today. It was delightful to watch (the partnership between Pooran and Fletcher), Fletch hasn’t been getting too many runs but we backed him and we got the result today. We have to go back, and see what is needed for the combination. What we picked today might not be what is necessary tomorrow. Rashid did just enough and we might just pick him up from outside the ground (chuckles).
Yusuf Pathan, Dubai Capitals skipper: We didn't get enough and failed to show intent. I thought the nature of the wicket was difficult to predict. MI Emirates did really well in the Powerplay and showed us the way. On a pitch like this, both their batters (Fletcher and Pooran) played superbly and it was difficult to stop them. We need to field better and there are other things to work on as a team and management.
Time for the post-match presentation ceremony with David Gower.
MI Emirates won by 8 wickets (with 20 deliveries to spare)
Dubai Capitals 151/5 in 20 overs George Munsey 51(43) | Trent Boult 2/19 | Rashid Khan 2/20
MI Emirates 152/2 in 16.4 overs Andre Fletcher 68*(45) | Nicholas Pooran 66*(26) | Jake Ball 1/23
It was a Nicholas Pooran and an Andre Fletcher special that made light work of the victory target of 152, and helped the MI Emirates qualify through to tomorrow’s match against the Gulf Giants and gets an opportunity to have a shy at the finals. Pooran was spectacular and changed the game in a few deliveries after Andre Fletcher got the Emirates off to an impressive start. Jake Ball and Reece Topley bowled a couple of impressive overs up front but it wasn’t enough to save the Capitals from a heavy defeat.
Ball bagged the wicket of Muhammad Waseem in the very first over to make life difficult for the Emirates. Lorcan Tucker joined Fletcher at the crease but the Irishman struggled to get the timing. It was Fletcher who provided some sort of momentum with a productive over of Topley in the powerplay. Tucker’s dismissal of Dasun Shanaka actually opened the game in favor of the Emirates.
Pooran came out all guns blazing and made an intent right from the word go. It was as if he was playing in a different pitch. He made stroke-making look ridiculously easy which wasn’t the case for the majority of the day. Pooran was severe on most of the Capitals bowlers and raced away to a half-century in just 25 deliveries. The duo made it look ridiculously easy and romped home by 8 wickets and with deliveries to spare. Fletcher remained unbeaten on 68 off 45 deliveries while Pooran remained undefeated on 66 off 36.
Earlier in the day, it was the MI Emirates skipper Kieron Pollard who won the toss and put the Dubai Capitals in. On a sluggish wicket, the Capitals managed to post a competitive 151 on the board which looked promising at the halfway mark. George Munsey and Sikandar Raza batted well but the run rate was an issue at the halfway mark. They did eventually manage to get over the 150-run mark but it didn’t really prove to be enough.
That will do nicely for the MI Emirates. The Capitals are going home and the Emirates have a game tomorrow against the Gulf Giants. With the ball, Rashid and Boult were the key performers and with the bat, it was Nicholas Pooran and Andre Fletcher who made light work of the target and chased it down with 20 deliveries left.
16.4 Akif Raja to Andre Fletcher, short of a length delivery, Fletcher pushes it through mid-on for a single. That will bring a comprehensive eight-wicket win for MI Emirates with 20 balls to spare. With this, MI Emirates advance to the Qualifier 2 to face Gulf Giants!
16.3 Akif Raja to Nicholas Pooran, length delivery outside-off, Pooran opens himself and drives it in front of point for a single
16.2 Akif Raja to Nicholas Pooran, full-toss outside-off, Pooran looks to drive but he misses it
16.1 Akif Raja to Andre Fletcher, short and slow, Fletcher pulls it to deep backward square for a single
With just 3 runs required, we will have a 3-minute strategic break. Strange but we have to abide by the rules. Luqman Hazrat was picked for 10 runs which has made the result a mere formality. What an effort this has been from Pooran and Fletcher. Not sure whether the pitch has changed significantly, but this duo has certainly made the pitch look like a belter. Yusuf Pathan have fallen short of ideas.
16
overs
149/2score
2
1
2
0
4
1
runs
Andre Fletcher*
66(43)
Nicholas Pooran
65(34)
Laqman Hazrat
0/17
15.6 Luqman Hazrat to Andre Fletcher, length delivery on the stumps, Fletcher comes forward to push it extra-cover for a single
15.5 Luqman Hazrat to Andre Fletcher, length delivery with width, Fletcher reaches it and slashes the ball behind point for a boundary. FOUR! Stylishly done by the Spiceman!
15.4 Luqman Hazrat to Andre Fletcher, short of a length with width, Fletcher cuts it to backward point. No run
15.3 Luqman Hazrat to Andre Fletcher, short delivery, Fletcher pulls it in front of square for a couple of runs
15.2 Luqman Hazrat to Nicholas Pooran, short of a length outside-off, Pooran chops it to covers for a single
15.1 Luqman Hazrat to Nicholas Pooran, short of a length delivery, Pooran pulls it hard to deep mid-wicket where the fielder dives to his right and makes a superb stop. Two runs taken
Hazrat Luqman [1-0-7-0] comes back into the attack.