International League T20, Match 2: Emirates Secured 49 Runs Win Against Sharjah Warriors
It’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi that hosted the 2nd match of the International League T20 i.e., MI Emirates vs Sharjah Warriors. The toss favored Sharjah Warriors and they opted to bowl first. Will Smeed and Muhammad Waseem came to open for Emirates while Woakes opened the bowling attack. In the 3rd over, Woakes sent off Will Smeed at 2 (7). Fletcher and Waseem tried to concretize the innings of Emirates and the duo brought the score to 52-1 in 6 overs.
Fletcher was soon sent back to pavilion in the 8th over at 22 (20). In 10 overs, the score was 79-2. Muhammad Waseem was at 35 (26) and Nicholas Pooran was 5 (7). Pooran and Waseem upgraded the gear afterwards. Waseem brought his 50 with a six in the 13th over and later on, hit a four to Moeen Ali. Nabi in the 15th over sent Waseem 71 (39) back to pavilion and in 15 overs, the scoreboard showcased 151-3.
In today’s match, Emirates displayed an outstanding performance in their batting. They passed the coveted 200-run threshold despite a brief lull between overs 16 and 18. Waseem opened the innings with a brilliant fifty, putting on a power hitting masterclass. This set the tone for the entire inning.
The Emirates hitters were able to bat more freely in the final 10 overs thanks to his good stand with Fletcher and Pooran. Pooran came close to reaching fifty, and Sharjah briefly clawed their way back thanks to his dismissal, but Pollard 22 (13) and Bravo’s 21 (10) breezy cameos effectively put an end to the innings. It’s been a nice pitch to bat on, and the second half should probably be even better. Emirates put a target of 205 in 20 overs for Sharjah Warriors.
In the run chase, Sharjah Warriors had a huge pressure and a mammoth target to chase. Gurbaz and Lewis were at the crease. Boult opened the attack from the bowling side. In the 2nd over, Lewis was bowled by Farooqi at 0 (4) and in the next delivery, Malan was given LBW out and he went a first ball duck. This brought Sharjah on the backfoot and under pressure. In 6 overs, SW was at 41-2 and Gurbaz was batting at 29 (21) and Moeen Ali was 11(10). In the 8th over, Mooen Ali lost his wicket to Dwayne Bravo and soon, Bravo dismissed Gurbaz 43 (31), breaking the hope of SW to comeback in the game. SW kept losing wickets in almost every over afterwards. The score was 85-5 in 12 overs. Pooran and Siddique couldn’t do much for their team. However, Woakes showed some great resistance and hit sixes and fours to bowlers. In 18 overs, the score was 128-8 and the match was under control of Emirates.
In the last over, SW needed 70 runs and the ball was in the hands of Fletcher. Woakes hit 6,2,4,4,4, and on the last bowl, got out, scoring 62 (29).
Emirates won by 49 runs as they restricted SW at 155-9 in 20 overs.
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