MI Emirates defeated Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by a comfortable seven wickets thanks to Kamindu Mendis‘ dominance in the middle overs and Fazalhaq Farooqi’s cleanup job. Emirates hunted down the Knight Riders in the 14th over after they crashed and burnt their way to 122 in the 20th over.
In the fourth over, the batting side was down to 25/2 as Farooqi and Romario Shepherd got the bowling side rolling by dismissing Phil Salt and Alex Hales within the PowerPlay. Brandon McMullen, Liam Livingstone, and Sherfane Rutherford all fell to the Sri Lankan spinner as Knight Riders went from 49/2 in the eighth over to 74/5 in the eleventh.
Mendis intervened to cause mayhem during the middle part.
The squad surpassed 100 runs thanks to Alishan Sharfu and Sunil Narine, and for a brief while, a total near 150 seemed possible. However, their hopes were dashed when Farooqi returned. Farooqi swept through the remainder of the innings with the wickets of Holder, Kharry Pierre, and Ajay Kumar after Rashid Khan had initially broken the sixth-wicket partnership with Sharfu’s wicket. The Knight Riders ended on 122 when Zahoor Khan dismissed Narine.
In chase, Jonny Bairstow and Muhammad Waseem took off, contributing 33 by the fourth over when Ajay caught the former. By dismissing Nicholas Pooran in the fifth over, Holder upset several people, but Tom Banton and Bairstow went on to form a 64-run partnership that put the game well out of the bowling side’s grasp.
Banton was bowled by Pierre for a 20-ball 29 in the 13th over, bringing Emirates within 13 runs of victory. After that, Mendis came out and hit the game-winning six off Olly Stone in the fourteenth over.
India
