Sharjah,
Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, through a display of masterful spin bowling, bowled out Sharjah Warriors for a paltry 74 runs and guided MI Emirates to a 106 runs win in the ninth match of the ILT20 season 2 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. He wreaked havoc with a spell of 4 for 23 through his guile and precision and bowled out Warriors in 12.1 overs.
MI Emirates had posted a total of 180 for 7 in 20 overs through Andre Fletcher, who hit 42 off 31 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. Kusal Perera too scored 42 runs off 25 balls with three boundaries and three sixes. Together they put on 93 runs off 56 balls for the second wicket. Skipper Nicholas Pooran then cracked 37 runs off 29 balls with two sixes and a boundary. Sharjah Warriors’ Muhammad Jawadullah stood out taking three wickets for 31.
Warriors who had to score at a run rate of nine, lost early wickets. Hosein bowled out danger man Johnson Charles with the last ball of the first over for 1 while Boult had skipper Tom Kohler-Cadmore caught and bowled for a duck. Opener Martin Guptill and Niroshan Dickwella added another 33 runs before Boult struck again to force Dickwella to play into the hands of David at mid-off for 22. Joe Denly began by smashing Boult to the cover boundary, but Warriors lost Guptill to a slow delivery from Fazalhaq Farooqi for 17.
Hosein’s deadly eighth over had Denly out caught and bowled for 6 off the second ball. One ball later, he dismissed Basil Hameed for a duck caught by Boult at long-off, and then Daniel Sams leg before with the next ball. Hosein missed his hat-trick as Chris Woakes survived a review after being given out leg before.
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 hat-trick.”
Brief scores:
MI Emirates bt Sharjah Warriors by 106 runs.
MI Emirates 180 for 7 in 20 overs (Kusal Perera 42, Andre Fletcher 42, Nicholas Pooran 37, Tim David 20, Muhammad Jawadullah 3 for 31); Sharjah Warriors 74 in 12.1 overs (Martin Guptill 17, Niroshan Dickwella 22, Akeal Hosein 4 for 23, Trent Boult 2 for 11, Waqar Salamkheil 2 for 3)
Player of the Match: Akeal Hosein of MI Emirates