Pooran blitz helps MI Emirates seal playoff berth

MI Emirates sealed qualification for the playoffs of the ILT20 by comfortably beating the Gulf Giants in Abu Dhabi. A collective bowling display before Nicholas Pooran (69*) Muhammad Waseem's (59*) unbeaten 140-run stand for the third wicket were the catalysts in MIE sealing victory. The Giants, meanwhile, continue to be in free fall, having lost six of their last seven games and will need to beat Abu Dhabi Knight Riders to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.

With the Giants put in to bat first, Rahmanullah Gurbaz began with a massive six and four but managed only a short stay at the crease as he was castled by Fazalhaq Farooqi in the third over. In between this, Giants also lost captain James Vince to Romario Shepherd as they were 16 for 2 and in trouble early on. Two became three, as Asif Khan who showed glimmers of a potential counter-attack with a six and a four fell to Shepherd as Giants ended the PowerPlay at 36 for 3.

The same pattern followed for Lorcan Tucker who hit two boundaries before falling to Arab Gul Momand. The loss of regular wickets also meant that Giants couldn't break free during the middle overs scoring only 55 runs between overs 7 and 15. Moeen Ali and Kyle Mayers then took the attack to the MIE bowlers in the final five overs. The two lefties lined up AM Ghazanfar in a 15-run over before smashing Shepherd for two fours and a six. Moeen brought up his fifty off 45 balls - a slow innings but one that took Giants to a respectable total of 141 for 6.

With the ball, Giants were on the money straight away. The Irishman Mark Adair had Jonny Bairstow adjudged LBW for a duck and the batter walked off, but ball-tracking showed that the ball would have been going over the stumps. Azmatullah Omarzai picked up the other Englishman, Tom Banton, in the next over as MIE were suddenly 2 for 2. This brought Pooran and Waseem together in the second over of the game and they found a boundary in each of the remaining overs of the PowerPlay to take MIE to 33 for 2.

Waseem was the aggressor early on, punishing any width and overpitched boundaries with disdain to the fence as Pooran struggled to find his timing and was 19 off 28 at one stage. But having held up one end for so long, Pooran pounced on a full-toss from Tabraiz Shamsi to get his innings going in the 12th over. He found three boundaries in quick time to bring up his first 50 of the season and the 100-partnership.

From then on, MIE switched gears rapidly. Waseem hit two quick sixes to take him past 50 while Pooran got hold off Adair to smash back-to-back maximums in the 17th over before a wide sealed the victory for MIE.

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