Ghazanfar, Pollard help seal second spot for MI Emirates

MI Emirates sealed second place in the ILT20 after overcoming the Dubai Capitals in a comfortable chase of 123. The Capitals were first restricted largely thanks to AM Ghazanfar's three-fer (3 for 28) before the top-four batters of MIE ensured there were no hiccups in the run chase. Kieron Pollard also smashed 30 runs in one over en route to MIE's victory.

Having been put in to bat, the Capitals found four boundaries in the opening three overs. But, the flow of runs slowed down once spin was introduced in the fourth over through Ghazanfar. It was Shakib al Hasan who got the breakthrough from the other end with the wicket of Shayan Jahangir before Ghazanfar struck in his second over with the wicket of his Afghan counterpart Sediqullah Atal.

With spin working, MIE turned to Dan Mousley who returned with the wicket of Rovman Powell after Leus du Plooy was run-out earlier in the over. Arab Gul Momand scalped the big wicket of Jordan Cox as the Capitals were 53 for 5 at the halfway stage. James Neesham, the new batter, looked in fine touch with three boundaries in his quick 21 before he offered a return catch to Ghazanfar. The Afghan then knocked over David Willey in the same over to have the Capitals at 84 for 7. Mohammad Nabi and Scott Currie then put on 28 runs for the eighth wicket to take the Capitals past 100 and to a respectable score of 122 for 8.

The chase began in emphatic fashion for MIE. Muhammad Waseem struck 18 runs in the opening over off Willey before Andre Fletcher took him for 14 runs in his second over. The Capitals introduced spin in the second over itself but MIE could afford to be more cautious after the onslaught against Willey at the other end. Haider picked up Waseem in the seventh over before Fletcher was run-out in a mix-up after a scratchy 21.

Since Tom Banton's six in the ninth over, MIE had gone without a boundary for 23 balls before Pollard broke the shackles with a six off Waqar Salamkheil. Banton smashed Currie for four to follow up before Pollard unleashed his might. The West Indian clobbered Salamkheil for three sixes down the ground, one over extra-cover alongside fetching a boundary and a two in a massive 30-run over. This left MIE needing only 10 runs with five overs to spare. With the result a foregone conclusion, Banton hit two boundaries as MIE won by 8 wickets and 3.2 overs to spare.

Brief Scores: Dubai Capitals 122/8 in 20 overs (Mohammad Nabi 22*, James Neesham 21; AM Ghazanfar 3-28, Shakib al Hasan 1-11) lost to MI Emirates 126/2 in 16.4 overs (Kieron Pollard 44*, Tom Banton 28*; Haider Ali 1-14) by eight wickets