The MI Emirates recorded their third victory of the International League T20 2025/26 (ILT20) on Wednesday. They defeated Dubai Capitals by 7 runs to claim a place in the top 3 on the points table. Jonny Bairstow and Rashid Khan were the star players for the MI Emirates as while the former delivered with the bat and scored a vital half-century, the latter performed brilliantly with the ball to help the side in defending a relatively small target.
After being invited to bat first, MI Emirates had a decent but slow start as openers Muhammad Waseen and Jonny Bairstow dealt with the opposing bowlers. The former looed to struggle quite a bit during his stay at the crease and was eventually dismissed for 17 runs as the opening stand of 40 came to an end in the 7th over. However, following this wicket, Bairstow would take matters completely into his own hands.
Bairstow brings up first fifty of the tournament
The wicketkeeper-batter smacked boundaries all around the park and soon went on to reach his fifty. This was a much-needed knock for Bairstow, who was yet to score a half-century in the ongoing edition of the tournament before this match. But, he didn't get much support from the other end as Nicholas Pooran lost his wicket cheaply for eight runs in the 12th over, restricting MI Emirates to 89/2.
Bairstow also wouldn't be able to keep going for long and was sent back to the pavilion for 67 runs. This wicket triggered a batting collapse for the MI Emirates as the likes of Kieron Pollard, Kamindu Mendis, Rashid Khan, Tom Banton and Allah Ghazanfar all lost their wickets cheaply and were back in the dugout by the 18th over. The MI Emirates went down to 118/8 at one stage as Mustafizur Rahman delivered big time and racked up three big scalps. An unbeaten 18-run cameo from Romario Shepherd saw them finish their 20 overs on 137/8.
In reply, the Dubai Capitals also had a decent start, but lost Leus du Plooy for just four runs as his openeing stand of 32 with Shayan Jahangir came to an end. The duo of Jahangir and Jordan Cox then took the innings forward. Rashid Khan would ensure that the two do not form a big partnership and dismissed the opener for 34 runs. He then went on to clinch Rovman Powell's scalp in the 13th over as the Capitals were down to 89/3.
They would lose two more wickets in as many overs with both Dasun Shanaka and Jammy Nessham falling cheaply. This saw the MI Emirates claw their way back into the game. Naveen-ul-Haq would then go on to get the huge wickets of Mohammad Nabi and Cox, who departed for 12 and 46 respectively, bringing the Capitals down to 122/7 after 19 overs.
The Capitals get bowled out in final over
With 16 runs required in the final over, the tail-enders choked big time as the likes of Haider Ali, Mustafizur Rahman and David Willey all lost their wickets in the matter of six deliveries. Shepherd got two of the three scalps while Mustafizur ended up losing his wicket due to a run-outas the Capitals were bundled out for just 130 and lost the match by a 7-run gap. Rashid was named the Player of the Match for his figures of 2/14 in his quota of four overs. The win has seen MI Emirates rise to the third place on the standings with six points from as many games.