Despite Kieron Pollard and Nicholas Pooran's valiant knocks of 50 and 46 respectively, it was the Gulf Giants who came out on top against MI Emirates in the International League T20 (ILT20). The side led by Moeen Ali cruised to the 164-run target mainly thanks to a phenomenal knock of 81 by Pathum Nissanka. He was assisted well by Azmatullah Omarzai who played an impactful cameo of 39.
After being invited to bat first, the MI Emirates had a poor start and lost opener Muhammad Waseem in the first over for just a single. Things wouldn't get better for them anytime soon as Omarzai got rid of Tom Banton in the third over and Jonny Bairstow departed cheaply for 11 in the fifth over. These wickets saw the side get restricted to 30/3 at one stage.
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Soon after, they would also lose Tajinder Singh for a disappointing 15-run cameo as the opposing bowlers took complete control. MI Emirates were in desperate need of a strong partnership and they got it from Pooran and Pollard. The West Indian duo played some high-flying shots and scored runs on a rapid pace. They would form a massive 78-run stand as the side crossed the 100-run mark comfortably.
MI Emirates finish on strong note
Both of them looked set to score big, however Pooran missed out on his half-century by a whisker and lost his wiccket for 46 runs in the 18th over to Haider Razzaq. Pollard would end up reaching his fifty in the 20th over, but would lose his wicket on the second-last delivery of the innings to Omarzai. Regardless, an 18-run cameo from Romario Shepherd and a six on the final delivery from Rashid Khan saw the MI Emirates finish on 163/6.
In reply, the Gulf Giants also had a poor start and lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the first over to Chris Woakes. Gerhard Erasmus would be Woakes' next wicket and it would come in the third over as the Giants were restricted to 16/2. Nissanka and Moeen tried to stitch a partnership and did play some brilliant shots. However, the latter wouldn't be ablew to play a big knock and departed for 26 runs thanks to a run-out.
Nissanka and Omarzai's important partnership
However, it was the stand between Nissanka and Omarzai that completely changed the course of the game. The duo smacked opposing bowlers all around the stadium and led the team over the 100-run markk comfortably. The 94-run stand would eventually come to an end in the 15th over as Nissanka lost his wicket to Allah Ghazanfar, however the damage was already done.
The Giants were only seven runs away from victory at that point and a 4-run wide from Ghazanfar just two deliveries later saw them reach the target with 32 deliveries left to spare. With this 6-wicket win, the Gulf Giants started their ILT20 campaign on a high note and will be facing the Dubai Capitals next on December 6. Meanwhile, the MI Emirates will be looking to bounce back from this defeat in their next fixture that will be against the Sharjah Warriors on December 7.