MI Emirates ride on Shepherd's all-round show to beat Warriorz by four runs

Sharjah, Dec 7 (PTI) MI Emirates suffered a late scare but eventually pulled through courtesy an impressive final over from Romario Shepherd as they secured a four-run win over Sharjah Warriorz in the ILT20 here on Sunday.

UAE star Muhammad Waseem was the highest run-getter for MI Emirates, scoring 39 in 29 balls, including two fours and as many sixes.

However, it was Tom Banton (32 off 21) and Shepherd, who smashed an unbeaten 31 off 10 balls, which paved the way for MI Emirates' win after they posted 185 to ensure that Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Sikander Raza's half-centuries went in vain.

With the ball, Adil Rashid took 3 for 32 for Warriorz.

Batting first, MI Emirates started on a cautious note, with Jonny Bairstow (37 off 24) hitting their first six of the innings only in the third over. That shot sparked a brief surge as they reached 49 without loss at the end of the powerplay, before Junaid Siddique made the breakthrough with the wicket of Bairstow in the next over.

Waseem then took charge of the batting, rotating the strike and finding the odd boundary, but Adil Rashid turned the game on its head by dismissing Nicholas Pooran (5 off 12) and removing Waseem two balls later.

At 119/3 after 15 overs, MI Emirates needed a strong finish, and Banton and Shepherd, provided them the impetus.

Warriorz were 48/3 at the end of their powerplay. Kohler-Cadmore and Raza then shared a 103-run stand in just 59 balls before Allah Ghazanfar provided the much-needed breakthrough by dismissing the Zimbabwean. He then struck again with the very next delivery to bowl Dwaine Pretorius, sealing a two-wicket maiden and giving the MI Emirates a shot at victory.

Shepherd then closed out the game in the final over with some brilliant death bowling, securing his team's first win of the season. PTI AH AH PDS PDS