Sport
Perera, Fletcher power MI Emirates to top of ILT20 table after dominant win over Sharjah Warriors
MI Emirates romped home to victory over the Sharjah Warriors in the International League T20 on Friday night with a 106-run win.
The victory puts the Abu Dhabi franchise atop the ILT20 table after four matches, having won three of them, and gives them a massive net-run-rate boost, Arab News reported.
Two strong batting performances from Kusal Perera and Andre Fletcher, who both scored 42 runs, propelled MI Emirates to 180 for 7 after their 20 overs.
It was a woeful response from the Warriors, with only three players making it into double figures, and three wickets in the eighth over from Akeal Hosein saw them slump to 56-7 in reply.
“I felt like 170 would do the job for us,” MI Emirates captain Nicholas Pooran said post-match.
“It was a difficult to pitch to bat on, but the guys executed their skills really well with the ball, we worked really hard as a group in terms of our conversation, and this is the second game where we have bowled a team under 100, which is excellent.”
The Warriors’ final tally of 74 all out is the lowest total since the competition began last year.
“I still fully back the decision at the toss (to bowl first),” captain Tom-Kohler Cadmore said. “If you lose a lot of wickets at the top, you will struggle in the chase. We should not be losing too many wickets in the powerplay, it is about staying positive and keeping the same intent. And would hope to come back stronger for the next game.”
Player of the match Hosein described how his spell was all about making the right assessment. “I thought I would bowl fuller. Bowling the first over, I thought it was about execution. But it’s just about making the assessment. I had to spin more balls. It’s unfortunate that I was so close to picking up a hattrick.”
MI Emirates are in action again on Sunday in an all-Abu Dhabi clash against the Knight Riders, while the now bottom-of-the-table Warriors have a chance to bounce back against Desert Vipers also on Sunday.
Spinner Varun Chakravarthy returned bowling figures of 2-17 as Kolkata Knight Riders booked their play-off spot with an 18-run win over Mumbai Indians in a rain-reduced IPL match.
Two-time champions Kolkata posted 157-7 as Venkatesh Iyer top-scored with 42 off 21 balls after being invited to bat first at their home Eden Gardens in a 16-overs-a-side match, AFP reported.
Bowlers combined to defend the total after Mumbai raced to 65-0 and Chakravarthy, a mystery spinner, got the big wickets of Rohit Sharma, who made 19 after coming in as impact substitute, and skipper Hardik Pandya, who was caught out for two.
Five-time winners Mumbai, who are already out of the play-off race, finished on 139-8 as Tilak Varma hit a 17-ball 32 before he fell to fast bowler Harshit Rana, who took two wickets in the last over.
Pace bowler Andre Russell also took two wickets, including that of Suryakumar Yadav, as table-toppers Kolkata got their ninth win in 12 matches to become the first team to book a play-off berth.
The top four teams will make the play-offs with the final on May 26 in Chennai.
Kolkata lost openers Phil Salt, out for six, and Sunil Narine, bowled for a duck off Jasprit Bumrah, in the first two overs and skipper Shreyas Iyer soon fell for seven.
But Venkatesh, a left-hand batsman, made Kolkata hit back with six fours and two sixes and he set the pace that was picked up by Nitish Rana and Russell in a key stand of 39.
Rana, a left-hand batter, hit 33 and Russell smashed 24 off 14 before Rinku Singh, who hit 20, and Ramandeep Singh, unbeaten 17, helped Kolkata finish on a high, AFP reported.
Bumrah and veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla took two wickets each.
Sorkh Poshan Khafi defeated Aino Mina 1-0 in the 41st match of Afghanistan Champions League (ACL) in Kabul on Friday.
In the 42nd match later in the day, Sarsabz Yashlar beat Khurasan Faryab 2-0.
The only goal in Sorkh Poshan Khafi’s match against Aino Mina was scored by Habibullah Hotak who netted the ball with a header.
Temor Shah Raoufi and Mustafa Rezaie scored for Sarsabz Yashlar in their 2-0 victory against Khurasan Fayrab.
Saturday’s matches will see Abu Muslim Farah take on Jawanan Wahedi at 1pm, while Adalat Farah play Khadim at 3:30pm.
The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television.
IPL heavyweights Mumbai Indians became the first team to be knocked out of the play-off race after Sunrisers Hyderabad hammered Lucknow Super Giants by 10 wickets.
Five-time winners Mumbai are ninth in the 10-team table on eight points after only four wins in 12 matches, AFP reported.
Hyderabad, led by Pat Cummins, moved third on 14 points after they chased down 166 in 9.4 overs on Wednesday night, courtesy Travis Head’s 89 and 75 by Abhishek Sharma.
Lucknow and Delhi Capitals are both on 12 points and face each other on 14 May meaning Mumbai cannot qualify for the top four to contest the playoffs, even if Hardik Pandya’s side win their two remaining matches.
Mumbai lost their first three games with Pandya booed after he replaced the popular Rohit Sharma as skipper this season.
Table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals both have 16 points each.
The final will be on 26 May in Chennai.
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