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Rifat Amil: “Shakib Al Hasan has won his 45th Man of the Match award in T20 cricket. Only Kieron Pollard (48), Glenn Maxwell (48) have the same in T20 history.”
Player of the Match, Shakib Al Hasan: “It was definitely a pitch suited for spinners. The main thing was to bowl the ball consistently in the right areas. I managed to do that today, and I’m very happy that I could contribute to the team’s success. It was a tough surface to bat on. We have a lot of explosive players in our lineup who can clear the ball with ease, so someone needed to play negative.” [anchoring] Role. I took the responsibility upon myself to ensure that we chase the target. I am very happy with the overall performance of the team. [Kieron Pollard the biggest six-hitter] There are probably two or three other guys in that bracket, but he’s definitely at the top. If he’s not obviously number one, he’s certainly one of the best in terms of pure power.”
Kieron Pollard: “I think we are playing some good cricket, but there are still some average moments in between. You always strive for excellence and perfection, even if you know you will never reach it. The closer we get to that ideal, the better it is for us. Today was a difficult game, but we managed to get over the line. [Using the heaviest bat in the world] I wouldn’t go that far! But today I definitely needed some meat to power the ball. My strategy was to avoid arriving too early; On such a slow pitch, you need extra power for the final overs in case of trouble. Despite the slow nature, I still thought it was a good track. That was the discipline we showed. We saw that the Vipers were playing a bit defensively, so we did not attack much. We knew that as long as we stayed in the game and kept the target around 120-130, we would be fine. We didn’t need to be too aggressive. That level of restraint and discipline from people has impressed me the most.”
Sam Curran: ,[Injury update on Lockie Ferguson] It didn’t look very good; It seemed as if he was pulling his calf. The schedule has been brutal lately. Even though he rested last night, these things still keep happening. Luckily, we don’t play again until Boxing Day, so we have a bit of a margin. We are hoping for the best. [Tricky surface] This was another low-scoring, tricky game. The slow nature of the pitch made it difficult, especially facing an MI Emirates team with quality spinners who have a lot of tricks up their sleeve. Despite the low score, I thought our bowling attack performed really well. Since we have already qualified, we decided to rest some people. What happened to Locky confirms why we didn’t attack with full force today; You have to manage the workload. Now, it is about rest, taking a few days off and then working hard for the next day. At this stage of the tournament, the physical and mental impact is definitely tough. Being on a winning streak has helped relieve some stress and allowed us to rotate the team. However, we have suffered some injuries and lost Noor Ahmed in SA20, so we have to really stay united as a unit. We are a strong franchise and we are looking forward to our final group game before heading into the playoffs in Abu Dhabi.”
10:01 pm The Desert Vipers did not have enough runs on the board, and their defense was further hampered by an injury to Lockie Ferguson, costly dropped catches and misfields. Muhammad Wasim gave a great start to MI Emirates by hitting four fours in the first two overs. However, David Payne continued his fine form with the ball and dismissed Jonny Bairstow with a clever slower ball. Wasim’s aggressive cameo ended soon after when he hit a pull shot at deep third man off the bowling of Ferguson. As the pressure was building on Emirates, Nicholas Pooran eased the tension by hitting consecutive sixes off Qais Ahmed soon after the powerplay. The game then turned into a strategic cat-and-mouse battle between Pooran and Dan Lawrence. Pooran attempted to see out the longer spinner’s overs but was eventually trapped LBW; He opted for a failing review before departing. The Vipers suffered a major blow in the 9th over when Ferguson had to leave the field due to a calf injury while bowling. In the middle overs, Krishnamurthy moved the scoreboard up with two big sixes before being caught at short cover off Matiullah Khan. While Dan Lawrence was exceptional, conceding just 13 runs in his four-over spell, the momentum changed decisively in the 15th over. Qais Ahmed struggled with his control, conceding 18 runs through full tosses and half-trackers, which Kieron Pollard took full advantage of. Qais’s difficult night continued when he trapped Pollard at deep backward square leg in the next over. Pollard was eventually dismissed for 26 off 15 balls, but Romario Shepherd and Shakib Al Hasan gave Emirates a comfortable win with 15 balls to spare. The decision to completely leave out Sam Curran from the bowling attack was a major talking point. The Vipers will be sweating on the fitness of Lockie Ferguson as the playoffs approach.
MI Emirates won by 4 wickets