A proper thriller this. Both teams at different times had their noses ahead, only for the other to claw back. Sadly, despite the final flurry of sixes, MI Emirates couldn’t get over the line. Our skipper was just as disappointed. “I thought it was a good score, it was a good wicket, we got a start and it was a game which we should've finished. After soaking up some dot balls, we needed to do a lot more, the data says we're the slowest scoring team in the middle overs, we lost by six runs, that's something we need to look at,” he said. 

Pooran’s final over blitz 

This is the story of never giving in. It wasn’t the clean-hitting Nicky P we’ve become accustomed to over the years, but one that wasn’t quite finding his rhythm. But cometh the final over with 25 runs needed to win, he took it upon himself to go for it. The first ball went for a six, as did the third. It was down to 13 runs being needed off three balls now. But Junaid Siddique nailed two deliveries to deny is the game. 

Another day, another solid opening stand

Jonny Bairstow and Muhammad Waseem have been making a habit of getting the team off to quick starts, and today was no different. Waseem with four fours and two sixes in his 29-ball 44, and Bairstow with four fours and a six in his 23-ball 31, matched each other shot for shot. 

Dhillon, our wounded tiger

With the asking rate creeping up to over 14-runs-per-over, we needed a serious cameo. Kieron Pollard had just fallen to a brilliant catch in the deep. Pooran was struggling a bit to time the ball. In walked Tajinder Dhillon, smashed a 13-ball 24 despite hurting his hamstring in the process, and kept fighting to keep MIE in the hunt. Unfortunately he couldn’t see them home, having to retire hurt due to the pain. 

The story of our fightback 

The Sharjah Warriorz openers were off to a flier. Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Johnson Charles got past 100 in the 13^th over, and it looked like MI Emirates would be up against a massive score. But our bowlers, especially the Afghan spin twins, helped dry out the runs in the middle overs and helped keep the Warriorz to a much lower score of 174.