Clinical MI Emirates cruise past Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in a thriller
Dhananjaya de Silva (R) & Sunil Narine (L) were the top-scorers for ADKR (PC: Twitter)
MI Emirates' excellent start to the inaugural edition of the ILT20 continued as their batting group once again blew away an opposition bowling line-up to set up a close victory against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by five wickets at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday (January 21).
Dhananjaya, Narine steers Knight Riders to a fighting total
Batting first, the Knight Riders' openers failed to give their team a good start once again in the tournament as both openers failed to make substantial contributions. Kennar Lewis (0) and Brandon King (6) were dismissed in the first six overs. Walked in at number 3, Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya de Silva (65) who started with a flurry of boundaries, took his team to 41 by the end of the first powerplay.
Wickets kept tumbling but Dhananjaya kept the scoreboard moving. He added a 45-run stand with fellow countryman Charith Asalanka - and brought up his half-century off 31 balls. The platform was set for the big-hitting Andre Russell to go berserk and he got one out of the middle as well but picked out the fielder at long-on.
One over later, Dhananjaya departed after playing a well-compiled knock of 65. Knight Riders lost a bit of impetus after his dismissal and if not for captain Sunil Narine's cameo they would have ended with a below-par total. Narine (28) powered to 170 (ADKR's highest total of the campaign) in their allotted 20 overs.
Fletcher, Najibullah guides Emirates past the finish line
MI Emirates batters kept them in the run-chase (PC: Twitter)
Chasing a tricky total of 171, MI Emirates got off to a similar sort of start as the Knight Riders; Openers failed to deliver, and then came Emirates' number 3, Andre Fletcher, who didn't let the pressure get the better of him and started to take on the opposition bowlers. Inform Nicholas Pooran joined his fellow countrymen and both West Indians steadied the innings with a 50+ stand. However, Pooran's dismissal in the 11th over again brought Knight Riders back into the game.
The Knight Riders kept on building the pressure with timely wickets in the middle overs. This pegged the Emirates back and left them needing more than 12 runs per over. Skipper Kieron Pollard's fireworks put them slightly ahead in the game. But then came the twist as opposition skipper Sunil Narine accounted for Pollard's wicket. They needed 20 off the final over, and the pair of Najibullah Zadran (35*) and Dwayne Bravo (15*) helped their team cross the line on the final ball of the match.
Brief Scores
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders: 170/7
Dhananjaya de Silva 65 (40), Sunil Narine 28 (18)
Fazalhaq Farooqi 2/27, Zahoor Khan 2/35
MI Emirates: 176/5
Andre Fletcher 53 (43), Najibullah Zadran 35 (17)
Lahiru Kumara 2/34, Sunil Narine 1/24
MI Emirates won the match by five wickets.
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