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And with that, we come to the conclusion of our coverage of the 2024 International League T20. Mi Emirates have dominated the tournament in a big way - they were contenders for the title all along, and they stayed true to it. Yet another T20 title added to the MI kitty - the legacy just keeps growing and growing! We'll be back tomorrow with heaps of cricketing action - keep an eye on our tabs for our coverage of the same. This is Rajarshi Das, signing off on behalf of Pradeep. Good night!
Nicholas Pooran signs the match ball, and is handed the winners' check. He now poses with the trophy with the dignitaries. There are a few more medals to be handed out - apparently some of the MI Emirates players didn't get their winners' medal. The good thing about it was that all the players were on the dais, and Pooran gets to loft the trophy with his team right beside him as the fireworks set off!
Nicholas Pooran, MI Emirates captain: Couldn't ask for anything else from the team. Nice to see the plans executed so well. We win this trophy today, the Mumbai Indians become the most successful team. I think everyone tries to get better each time they step on the field and practice. Important to have Bravo and Pollard, they've won the lot, nice to have the winning experience in the dressing room. Muhammad Waseem has been brilliant, last year, this year as well. Really happy he could perform in the final as well.
Sam Billings, Dubai Capitals captain: Incredibly proud to be more or less out of the tournament and then in the final. Great team effort, all the support staff and the owners, incredible support. They played brilliant cricket, let's be honest. When Nicholas Pooran's in form like that, can't do much. Probably 20-25 too many was what we conceded. We're incredibly lucky to know different people, explore different cultures. Haider Ali lives and breathes cricket, love to see him and the rest of the local guys. Absolutely, would love to return here next year. I love this part of the world, there's challenges in different venues. Thankful for the opportunities.
Sikander Raza wins the Red Belt award, most valuable player of the tournament! Here's what he has to say: Certainly caught up in the moment with the people that have been praying for me in my life. It's a reward for my hard work, lot of the criticism, just wanted to say, thank you very much for everything. We were pretty much down and out, our teammates made a lot of memories. DC made us more welcoming, losing certainly hurts, but we can hold our head high. I like to be in a position where captains look out for me, to take all the wickets and score all the runs, it paid off well in the end.
Muhammad Waseem wins the Blue Belt award for being the best UAE player of the tournament!
Waqar Salamkheil wins the White Belt award for picking the most wickets (17) of the tournament!
James Vince wins the Green Belt award. He is the leading run scorer of the tournament!
Nicholas Pooran also wins the most sixes (31) of the tournament. Sam Billings wins the catch of the tournament award!
Nicholas Pooran is the Player of the Match! Here's what he has to say: It's really special to get the man of the match in a final. Couldn't have asked anything batter, the attitude and energy was there from ball one, finished of well. Understanding the condition, try and assess the situation, whatever team requires is what I liked to do throughout.
Robin Singh (Head coach of MI Emirates): Sense of relief, we wanted to win this tournament, we worked hard and looked forward to it right from the beginning. I think we had a lot of players from last year, we had people like Mahela, the whole backend team from last time, we pulled the team together and we had a good unit. Plenty of experience in the side, the captain, Pooran who led exceptionally well. I've been around with UAE players, many of them got exposure in this format, but this is a different experience playing alongside international players.
Kieron Pollard: Means a lot. We built this team from last year. Didn't go all the way the last time, well led by Nicholas this time, means a lot to me and the franchise. Just one more tournament that's missing, the guys at South Africa will be in a bit of pressure the next time. Well done to everybody. Seems like we had a trampoline on our hands, everything seemed to bounce out. We got to give some entertainment while at it. He's growing. He stepped in MLC, got the opportunity to lead in this franchise. He's continued to grow in stature in terms of a player and leader. Hope he becomes the best version of himself.
R Vinay Kumar (Assistant coach MI Emirates): Great feeling, we've put in a lot of effort and the first time we scored 200 runs, fielding was difficult on this ground but we bounced back really well. Told them to just treat this game just like any other game, it's all about winning. Capitan Pooran told the same in the meeting and he's been brilliant. Definitely this one, seniors took the responsibility, as a coach that gives more pleasure.
Akeal Hosein: It means a lot with senior guys like Bravo in the dressing room. Fletcher stuck it out, he struggled at the start but he batted fantastically well till the end to put us in good position.
Dwayne Bravo: We needed this win, it's an important tournament for all of us, the brand of cricket we played under the good leadership of Pooran. He told me not sure when you'll bowl again, told me take the ball for the final over. It's special, every time you play a tournament like this, you want to win and I'm a champion once again, not only me, every one. There's plenty of work put in.
Match summary:
MI Emirates win by 45 runs and are the 2024 ILT20 champions
Nicholas Pooran 57*(27) | Trent Boult 2/20 (4) Sam Billings 40(29) | Zahir Khan 1/21 (4)
As clinical a performance as they come! The MI Emirates were on the front foot going into the innings break, and the start that they had with the ball only helped them tighten their grip on that title! Plenty was expected from the opening duo of Leus du Plooy and Tom Banton, particularly from the former after his heroics in the second qualifier, but Akeal Hosein put a quick end to the left-hander's stay, trapping him in front two balls into the chase.
Tom Banton tried his best to get the ball rolling, but barring the odd boundary, there wasn't much to write home about for the Capitals in the powerplay. Tom Abell struggled to get going at the other end, unable to find the boundaries at all. He was handed a reprieve by Pollard, but was snaffled by the same man two balls later. The Capitals ended the powerplay with a mere 47 on the board, 25 runs lesser than what the MI Emirates put up in theirs earlier tonight.
MI Emirates' spin trio of Hosein, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, and Waqar Salamkheil later on, proceeded to apply the squeeze further after the powerplay. Billings tried his best to gather some impetus against the wrist-spinners. He did go after Dwayne Bravo in the 11th over, and then had a brief battle with Salamkheil before the wrist-spinner had him stumped. Salamkheil had a few choice words for the Capitals skipper, which, of course, wasn't taken to too kindly.
Too much was left for the likes of Rovman Powell and Jason Holder to do. The wrist-spin duo of Viyaskanth and Salamkheil closed their quota of overs well, and once they were done, the equation was a mammoth 80 off the last four. The game was up as soon as Powell departed, Holder and Kuggeleijn struck a few towards the end, reducing the eventual margin of defeat. Stay tuned for the presentations...
Yet another major title for this coveted MI family! Their legacy is one that might well be unmatched in the years to come - this MI franchise sure knows how to construct a team all right! The perfect blend of experience and talent help MI Emirates succeed at the Emirates!
20
overs
163/7score
6
0
1
0
1
1
runs
Scott Kuggeleijn*
19(12)
Rahul Chopra
1(3)
Dwayne Bravo
0/37
19.6 Dwayne Bravo to Scott Kuggeleijn, THAT IS IT! MI Emirates are the champions of ILT20 2024! That's a thumping win in the finals as Pooran jumps with joy. Full outside the off-stump, Kuggeleijn drilled it past covers for just one and MI Emirates crowned the winner of this season.
19.5 Dwayne Bravo to Rahul Chopra, dips a full delivery on the off-stump, Chopra waits and dabs it to short third-man for a quick single.