Kieron Pollard hit an unbeaten half century but it wasn’t enough to prevent the MI Emirates from going down by 42 runs to the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in International League T20 (ILT20) action at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Friday.
The former West Indies captain hit 69* off 49 balls including four fours and four sixes but was the only Emirates batsman to pass 20 as they finished their 20 overs 140-6 chasing a target of 183 for victory.
The Emirates lost the wickets of Kusal Perera (9), Tom Banton (1), captain Nicholas Pooran (1) and Muhammad Waseem (19) within the first six overs with the score on 36 and were never able to recover enough to have a real crack at their target.
West Indians Kyle Mayers and Jason Holder were excellent with the ball for the Knight Riders with 3-25 from three overs and 2-28 from four overs, respectively.
Earlier, Alishan Sharafu made 55 to lead the Knight Riders to 182-7 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat by Pooran.
Sri Lanka white ball captain Charith Asalanka was also in the runs with 32 while Andries Gous and Jason Holder also made meaningful contributions with 27 off 18 balls and 22* off 7 balls, respectively.
Alzarri Joseph was the pick of the MI bowlers with 3-32 from his four overs.
The win mover the Knight Riders to third in the table, level on six points with the Emirates with the Desert Vipers still leading comfortably with 10.
Summarized scores:
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 182-7 from 20 overs (Alishan Sharafu 55, Charith Asalanka 32, Andries Gous 27, Jason Holder 22*, Alzarri Joseph 3-32)
MI Emirates 140-6 from 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 69*, Kyle Mayers 3-25, Jason Holder 2-28).
