NEW DELHI: MI Emirates produced a dominant all-round performance to defeat Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by seven wickets, booking their spot in the ILT20 final in Sharjah. The team will face the Desert Vipers in Sunday's summit clash.
In a low-scoring encounter, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders were restricted to just 120 for eight, with Alishan Sharafu's 40-ball fifty the only significant resistance. MI Emirates chased down the target comfortably, finishing at 122 for three, thanks to disciplined bowling and timely contributions with the bat.
Muhammad Rohid bowled a tidy spell of 4-0-19-2, dismissing Brandon McCullum (13) and Liam Livingstone (4), but it was AM Ghazanfar who stole the show with figures of 4-0-24-3, removing Alex Hales (29), Jason Holder (1), and Sunil Narine (4).
MI Emirates secure a resilient win! ✌️
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A win set up brilliantly by the bowlers, the men in Blue & Gold polished off the chase clinically with 7️⃣ wickets in the bank, sealing the game and the spot in the grand finale! 😍🥳#<!---->M<!---->I<!---->E<!---->v<!---->A<!---->D<!---->K<!---->R #<!---->D<!---->P<!---->W<!---->o<!---->r<!---->l<!---->d<!---->I<!---->L<!---->T<!---->2<!---->0 #<!---->W<!---->h<!---->e<!---->r<!---->e<!---->T<!---->h<!---->e<!---->W<!---->o<!---->r<!---->l<!---->d<!---->P<!---->l<!---->a<!---->y<!---->s… p<!---->i<!---->c<!---->.<!---->t<!---->w<!---->i<!---->t<!---->t<!---->e<!---->r<!---->.<!---->c<!---->o<!---->m<!---->/<!---->p<!---->o<!---->v<!---->o<!---->q<!---->g<!---->i<!---->L<!---->G<!---->l
Fazalhaq Farooqi also contributed with two crucial wickets, finishing with 2-30 from his four overs as MI Emirates effectively restricted the Knight Riders to a modest total.
In reply, MI Emirates lost Muhammad Waseem (10) early in the second over and were down to 36/2 when Andre Fletcher (5) also fell for cheap.
But an 82-run stand for the third wicket between Tom Banton (64 not out) and Shakib Al Hasan put MI Emirates back on track of the chase, which they finished with seven overs and 23 balls to spare.
Banton played a fluent knock of 64 not out from 53 balls with seven fours and a six, whereas Shakib hit five fours and a six to make 38 off 24 balls in their third-wicket stand.
Ajay Kumar, who had dismissed Fletcher earlier, broke the partnership when he had Shakib caught by Sharafu but the Knight Riders, who deployed as many as seven bowling options, did not have enough on the board to challenge their opponents.
(With PTI Inputs)
