Pooran blitz helps MI Emirates seal playoff berth

MI Emirates secured their playoff spot in the ILT20 with a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Gulf Giants in Abu Dhabi. A strong collective bowling effort followed by an unbeaten 140-run third-wicket partnership between Nicholas Pooran (69*) and Muhammad Waseem (59*) guided MIE to the win. The Giants, in contrast, have now lost six of their last seven matches and must defeat Abu Dhabi Knight Riders to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Batting first after being put in, Gulf Giants faced early setbacks. Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit a six and a four but was bowled by Fazalhaq Farooqi in the third over. Captain James Vince fell to Romario Shepherd soon after, leaving the Giants at 16 for 2. Asif Khan showed brief intent with a six and a four before also falling to Shepherd, and the Giants ended the PowerPlay at 36 for 3.

Lorcan Tucker hit two boundaries before being dismissed by Arab Gul Momand. Regular wickets stifled the Giants' momentum in the middle overs, where they managed only 55 runs between overs 7 and 15. Moeen Ali and Kyle Mayers provided a late surge in the final five overs. They targeted AM Ghazanfar for a 15-run over and then hit Shepherd for two fours and a six. Moeen reached a 45-ball fifty, guiding the Giants to a total of 141 for 6.

In response, the Giants struck immediately with the ball. Mark Adair trapped Jonny Bairstow LBW for a duck, though ball-tracking later indicated the ball would have missed the stumps. Azmatullah Omarzai removed Tom Banton in the next over, reducing MIE to 2 for 2 in the second over. Pooran and Waseem then steadied the innings, finding a boundary in each remaining PowerPlay over to take the score to 33 for 2.

Waseem was the early aggressor, capitalizing on loose deliveries, while Pooran struggled initially, reaching 19 off 28 balls. Pooran broke free in the 12th over, hitting a full-toss from Tabraiz Shamsi for a boundary. He quickly added three more boundaries to bring up his first fifty of the season and the 100-run partnership.

MIE accelerated rapidly from there. Waseem hit two sixes to pass fifty, and Pooran smashed back-to-back sixes off Adair in the 17th over before a wide sealed the victory.

Brief Scores: Gulf Giants 141/6 in 20 overs (Moeen Ali 51, Kyle Mayers 28; Fazalhaq Farooqi 2-17) lost to MI Emirates 142/2 in 16.3 overs (Nicholas Pooran 69*, Muhammad Waseem 59; Azmatullah Omarzai 1-20) by eight wickets.