Nicholas Pooran’s half-century was followed by Tim David’s last-over heroics to lead MI Emirates to sink Gulf Giants by 18 runs in the fourth match of the ILT20. MI Emirates lost opening batter Will Smeed in the second over after being put into bat by Gulf Giants, however, Mohammad Waseem and Andre Fletcher stabilised the innings with a 41-run second-wicket stand. Mujeeb Ur Rahman bowled Waseem (19) to break the partnership with 41 runs on the board right after the end of the powerplay. The scoring rate of MI Emirates slowed down after the wicket as Fletcher (28) added 10 runs in the next 21 balls before departing in the 12th over with 66 runs on the board. Nicholas Pooran was joined by Ambati Rayudu and they shifted gears to increase the scoring rate with their belligerent hitting. They constructed a firey 69-run partnership for the fourth wicket, which conceded only 32 balls.

However, Chris Jordan broke the partnership in the 18th over and sent both batters back to the pavilion within three balls. Rayudu scored 25 off 16, featuring three boundaries and one six, while Pooran played a whirlwind knock of 51 off 28, laced with three boundaries and four sixes. Tim David then played an unbeaten and blistering cameo of 41 runs from 15 balls, including 27 from the final over, featuring two boundaries and five sixes to push his team’s total to 179/5 in 20 overs. For Gulf Giants, Jordan returned with figures of 2-48, while Dominic Drakes, Jamie Overton and Mujeeb Ur Rahman picked one wicket each. In response, Gulf Giants raced to 48 in 5.2 overs courtesy of Jamie Smith (17) and James Vince before Fazalhaq Farooqi dismissed Smith, followed by Jordan Cox’s wicket.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)