Perera, Fletcher power MI Emirates to top of ILT20 table after dominant win over Sharjah Warriors

LONDON: MI Emirates romped home to victory over the Sharjah Warriors in the International League T20 on Friday night with a 106-run win.

The victory puts the Abu Dhabi franchise atop the ILT20 table after four matches, having won three of them, and gives them a massive net-run-rate boost.

Two strong batting performances from Kusal Perera and Andre Fletcher, who both scored 42 runs, propelled MI Emirates to 180 for 7 after their 20 overs.

It was a woeful response from the Warriors, with only three players making it into double figures, and three wickets in the eighth over from Akeal Hosein saw them slump to 56-7 in reply.

“I felt like 170 would do the job for us,” MI Emirates captain Nicholas Pooran said post-match.

“It was a difficult to pitch to bat on, but the guys executed their skills really well with the ball, we worked really hard as a group in terms of our conversation, and this is the second game where we have bowled a team under 100, which is excellent.”

The Warriors’ final tally of 74 all out is the lowest total since the competition began last year.

“I still fully back the decision at the toss (to bowl first),” captain Tom-Kohler Cadmore said. “If you lose a lot of wickets at the top, you will struggle in the chase. We should not be losing too many wickets in the powerplay, it is about staying positive and keeping the same intent. And would hope to come back stronger for the next game.”

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 hattrick.”

MI Emirates are in action again on Sunday in an all-Abu Dhabi clash against the Knight Riders, while the now bottom-of-the-table Warriors have a chance to bounce back against Desert Vipers also on Sunday.