On Friday evening, the MI Emirates were pitted against the Gulf Giants to determine who would qualify for the right to play the Desert Vipers in the DP World ILT 20 Final on Sunday. The MI Emirates had reached this stage by hammering the Dubai Capitals in the previous evening’s qualifier in Sharjah. The Gulf Giants, who finished top of the league after the round-robin stage, were disappointed not to have taken the direct route to the final, having lost out to the Desert Vipers in the first vs. second qualifier on Wednesday.
First blood went to the Giants who won the toss and elected to bowl. Colin de Grandhomme opened the bowling, with Carlos Brathwaite taking the second over. His fourth ball was thick-edged by Andre Fletcher — score of 66 not out in his previous innings — into the safe hands of Chris Jordan above his head at slip. Lorcan Tucker took on David Wiese, advancing down the pitch to strike through the off-side, 18 coming from the over, the score 30 for one wicket after four overs.
Tucker continued in aggressive manner against Jordan but, in attempting a straight six, he skied the ball to cover, where two fielders sought to claim the catch, Aayan Khan emerging successfully with the ball. At 35 for two after seven overs, the MI Emirates needed to accelerate. Mohammed Waseem took the responsibility, smashing De Grandhomme over mid-wicket for six, then to long off and finally square to propel the score to 63 for two after nine overs.
The innings then suffered a double setback. Dan Mousley slashed at Wiese, the edge being caught acrobatically, one-handed, by the leaping Gerhard Erasmus. Then, Waseem could not believe that he inside-edged a ball wide of the off stump from Jordan into his wicket. He took a long time to drag himself away from the crease.
Two experienced West Indians were now at the wicket, Nicolas Pooran and Kieron Pollard, the captain, sensing a critical phase of the innings. Wiese was bowling wide of off stump to the left-handed Pooran, who is very strong on the legside. Qais Ahmad was introduced, Pooran edging to slip, who dropped the catch. The next ball was smashed to mid-wicket where the diving fielder could hold on to make the catch. Potentially, these are big misses. Pooran sought to take advantage, smiting a huge six on the legside. Pollard joined in, hitting Ahmad for two sixes, the score moving to 114 for four wickets after 15 overs, but still a lot of work for the batsmen to do.
Pooran’s desperate hoist to mid-wicket underlined this, two fielders almost colliding in an attempted catch. Pollard was now into his stride, driving Jordan in golf-like fashion flat over long-on. The bowler stood in amazement and, most unusually, the following deliveries were successive legside wides, 49 runs coming from 18 balls.
Wiese seemed to draw the short straw, being asked to bowl the 18th over. Immediately, Pooran tried to pummel over long-on but got a bit underneath the ball and was caught by Jordan for 29. At 142 for five after 18 overs, Pollard powered 15 from Brathwaite’s final over and 10 from Jordan’s, taking the total to 167 for five and his score to 57. The average first innings score at Dubai in the tournament was 166.
James Vince and Chris Lynn opened for the Giants and took 10 from Trent Boult’s first over, followed by nine off Fazalhaq Farooqi. In Boult’s second over, Vince launched him straight for four, then beautifully over extra cover for four, before pulling through square and back-foot driving straight along the ground deck for four, to propel the Giants to 35 for no loss after three overs. This was high-quality batting from Vince, leading from the front and displaying a determination to win.
Pollard turned to Rashid Khan. Immediately, Lynn swept but straight to short fine leg, no run possible. He then swept for six, miscued to midwicket, falling just short of a fielder, and swept finer, right off the stumps, for four. The Giants raced to 49 for no wicket from four overs. This rapid progress showed no sign of abating until Lynn needlessly drove to extra cover, with the score at 64 for one after seven overs.
After striking Rashid Khan for six, De Grandhomme misread a googly. Pollard sensed an opportunity with the new batter, Erasmus, moving very close in at short leg. As Khan bowled, Erasmus backed away, the ball hitting the stumps. It seemed that Pollard may have been offering too much advice. The captain juggled his attack, but Vince and Erasmus weathered the storm, encapsulated by a delightfully whipped shot by Vince that bisected two fielders on the legside boundary.
At 108 for two after 12 overs, a calm, steady approach was appropriate, but Erasmus ambitiously pummeled Fazal Haq straight to long on where Mousley claimed a catch low down. The Giants reviewed to check if the ball bounced first. After a long wait, the decision was out. Then, Shimron Hetmyer hooked his first ball straight to Boult at fine leg to put the game in the balance at 108 for four. A mixture of streaky shots and boundaries, including a firmly hooked six by Vince, took the total to 134 for four after 15 overs.
The Giants were again in the driving seat. In the last throw of the dice, Khan returned and, rather unnecessarily, Wiese was caught hitting the square leg boundary. Brathwaite provided a little cameo in an attempt to finish the innings quickly but was bowled off his thigh by Boult to leave the score at 164 for six after 18 overs. It was left to Vince to secure victory off the first ball of the next over, fittingly, with a dreamy cover drive all along the ground, a proper cricket shot.
His 83 not out was a class act, with few false shots and was half of his team’s total. It is likely that they would have lost without his contribution. The other batters got themselves out when a more measured approach was required. Although T20 cricket is designed to generate entertainment, it can provide, at times, a basis for a more traditional approach. This was one of them.