MI Emirates book ILT20 final spot with win over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders

MI Emirates booked their spot in the DP World ILT20 Season 4 final with a convincing seven-wicket win over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in Qualifier 2 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday.

After restricting the Knight Riders to 120/8, Shakib Al Hasan and Tom Banton sealed the chase to set up a final clash against the Desert Vipers on January 4 at the Dubai International Stadium.

Allah Ghazanfar claimed three wickets for 24 runs while Alishan Sharafu’s unbeaten half-century guided the Knight Riders to 120/8. In response, Banton (62 off 53) and Shakib (38 off 24) contributed to an 82-run partnership off 53 balls as they rode out the early pressure to seal MI Emirates’ place in their second-ever final across four seasons.

MI Emirates made a slow start as Andre Fletcher (5 off 6) fell in the second over, with Ajay Kumar providing the early breakthrough. Jason Holder and Sunil Narine kept the pressure on as Tom Banton and Muhammad Waseem (10 off 14) struggled to rotate the strike, leaving MI Emirates at 26/1 at the end of the powerplay.

The pair stabilised the chase thereafter, taking 10 runs off Olly Stone in the seventh over. However, Narine broke their 30-run stand off 35 balls in the following over, trapping Waseem LBW. Shakib then joined Banton and shifted the momentum, striking Liam Livingstone for a six and two fours in a decisive 17-run 12th over, with the duo bringing up their 50-run partnership in just 29 balls.

Banton reached his half-century off 49 balls in the 15th over, with the Englishman hitting four fours off Holder to collect 18 runs. This reduced the equation to just eight runs from the final five overs. Soon after the wicket of Shakib in the 16th over, MI Emirates completed the chase with 23 balls to spare.

Earlier, Michael Pepper (1 off 4) was run out by a brilliant Andre Fletcher direct hit in the second over, after which Brandon McMullen (13 off 8) was trapped LBW by Muhammad Rohid in the fourth. With boundaries hard to come by, the powerplay firmly belonged to the MI Emirates bowlers as the Knight Riders crawled to 31/2.

Liam Livingstone’s (4 off 10) struggles ended with a miscue off Muhammad Rohid in the seventh over. The spinners then tightened the screws, with boundaries scarce barring Arab Gul’s costly 12th over, which went for 13.

Alex Hales (29 off 36) and Alishan Sharafu (50* off 40) briefly lifted the tempo with a 47-run stand off 44 balls before Ghazanfar dismissed Hales with the final delivery of the 14th over.

Ghazanfar returned in the 18th over to claim wickets off consecutive deliveries, first removing Jason Holder (1 off 2), who holed out to Kieron Pollard off the first ball. He later sent Sunil Narine (4 off 3) back to the pavilion in the same over. Sharafu brought up his half-century off the final ball of the innings as the Knight Riders laboured to 120/8.