Giants vs MI Emirates, 26th Match at Abu Dhabi, ILT20, Dec 23 2025 - Match Result

That concludes our coverage of the post-match presentation. The MI Emirates have officially secured their playoff spot, while the Gulf Giants must head back to the drawing board for one final push to keep their tournament hopes alive. Thank you for joining us today. Goodnight, goodbye, and take care!

Player of the Match, Muhammad Waseem: "First of all, thanks to Almighty Allah. I also have to give credit to my management and my captain. They have backed me after every single game and kept their faith in me. Alhamdulillah, I am happy I could deliver in such a crucial match. [Batting on the tricky surface] Exactly. We were talking out there on the pitch about the ball swinging. We told ourselves we just needed to get through those first three or four overs and focus purely on building a partnership. After that initial period, we played our normal game and just waited for the bad balls."

Kieron Pollard: "[Most clinical win] I'd say so. The way we started with the bat and absorbed that early pressure showed exactly what is required. In a tournament like this, you can't just play wishy-washy cricket and try to win the game in the first six overs when the ball is moving. You have to respect the conditions, so I was very happy with how we handled that. [Toss stats at this ground] Stats don't always tell the full story. Look at the dew here tonight; it made it incredibly difficult for the opposition to grip the ball. [Batting depth] It does, but unfortunately, Pooran is leaving us now, so we have to find someone to fill that gap in the middle. Waseem is a senior batter for us; he's not just a local UAE player. He has been around a long time and knows how to score runs. For us, it's just about understanding the conditions and putting in a professional performance. [Experiment for the next game] No, there will be no experimenting. Cricket is all about momentum. When you start experimenting, things can go haywire, and that just gives you guys in the media something to talk about! We want to keep winning."

James Vince: "I feel like I'm repeating myself, but we were definitely short on runs. We seem to be batting first every game lately, and we're finding it tricky to judge the right tempo and identify what a par score actually is. Losing wickets early really stalled our momentum. Ironically, I thought we finished the innings better than we have recently, but we stumbled too much at the start. [Bowling effort] I was really impressed with how the guys bowled up front and moved the ball to get those early wickets. To truly stay in the game and keep the pressure on, we probably needed them to be four wickets down for 50 runs. Credit to the way their guys batted toward the end to see them through. [Playoff chance] I think we were told at the start that we had a 34% chance. Given the run we're on, we'll take that for now! We have a couple of days off to regroup, and then we have to give it everything in our last match. We'll likely need to rely on a few other results, but we aren't out of it yet. It's do or die time now."

10:07 pm The Gulf Giants' struggles while batting first continue; a streak that began in Season 2 has now stretched to 11 winless matches, including today's defeat. This also marks their fifth consecutive loss this season. Early on, it seemed the Giants might have found the spark they needed. Mark Adair trapped Jonny Bairstow LBW in the opening over, and while the umpire's finger went up immediately, replays showed that had Bairstow reviewed, he would have been saved, as the ball was going over the stumps on the ball tracker. The Giants capitalized further when Tom Banton gifted his wicket to Azmatullah Omarzai in the next over, toe-ending a catch to mid-off. Despite being 33/2 after the Powerplay, Muhammad Waseem and Nicholas Pooran stabilized the chase. The Giants missed a golden opportunity to break the stand in the 8th over when a comedy of errors led to a botched run-out by Kyle Mayers. From there, the Emirates never looked back; Waseem kept the scoreboard ticking with aggressive play while Pooran anchored the side before both accelerated to finish the job. Their massive 140-run partnership completely deflated the Giants, who had no answers. With this result, the Giants' playoff hopes are hanging by a thread. Their fate now rests on winning their final match against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and hoping other results, specifically the Sharjah Warriorz' remaining games, fall in their favor. Stay tuned, as our post-match coverage begins shortly!

MI Emirates won by 8 wickets

Scores Level

Adair to bowl out

Strategic Timeout. The current partnership has made this chase look effortless for the Emirates, and they now appear to be cruising toward a comfortable victory. The Giants are in desperate need of a miracle; perhaps a cluster of quick wickets could reignite the contest, but the heavy dew is making life miserable for the bowlers, who are struggling to get any grip on the ball.

Ram Kumar GH : "Nicky P is returning to form in Good times as tournament get heated."

Razzaq returns to bowl the 15th over