MI Emirates vs Giants, 3rd Match at Dubai, ILT20, Dec 04 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary

10.10pm That's all from Game 3. Tomorrow it's Desert Vipers against Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. Join in for that, and of course all the Test cricket action in between in New Zealand and Australia! For now, om behalf of Binoy, it's Abhimanyu signing off.

10.02pm Right then, time for the presentation ceremony.

MOTM, Nissanka: "[The 100 against India in Asia Cup] gave me confidence. I played really well in Asia Cup and wanted to continue there. Wanted to play my natural game. Yes, bowlers did really well and Omarzai batted really well."

Moeen Ali: "It's a great performance. The toss was huge. We bowled very well in the first 10 overs. They have three players who can take it away and we held them back nicely and then Nissanka and Omarzai were incredible. We knew they were rebuilding after three down in the powerplay and it was almost trying to get them to take risks but they played very smartly. I thought we bowled very well to them. Executed very well. Nissanka is a brilliant player. For a few years he is one of the best in the world. he is very calm, doesn't say much but packs a punch. Omarzai has played unbelievably well and he is an allrounder and that's what allrounders do. He gave us the momentum to finish the game by taking on Rashid Khan. [Does Vince need to earn his place back?] Too many meetings for me so he comes back in. he is one of the best captains in England and the world. He will be a great addition."

Kieron Pollard: "[The early wickets] Yeah you can [put the defeat to that]. Losing three in the powerplay, and having to rebuild, we were short. ball was moving around quite a bit in the first 10 overs. [The pitch] I am not one to complain about the pitch because we have to adapt to what's presented to us but just losing those couple of wickets set us back. And we couldn't finish it off as well as we wanted. We are professionals and we don't want to blame it on the pitch and take the easy way out. We just need to be better in terms of execution. Losing the game with five overs to spare, we should have done better. We were quite short. Some new guys as well and a couple who were playing T10, but we'll turn up for the next game."

9.55pm Well, that was a rapid chase from Giants! A sensational partnership between Nissanka and Omarzai, that included an epic takedown of Rashid Khan by the latter, has helped Giants register a stunning win in their opening game of the season. MI Emirates never looked like they were ahead in the game, despite Pollard's second-half assault on the bowlers. Omarzai bowled a brilliant final over and carried that momentum into his batting innings to stay unbeaten on 39 off 16, carrying on from where Moeen Ali left off after he was run out when he just started to accelerate. Nissanka made 81 off 42 balls before getting out with Giants only seven runs away. Moeen said it's important they played well today, even if they didn't win. Well, they have done both today!

Manoj: "In this wicket only MI were struggling to bat? " -- Apparently so! Tom Moores, the impact sub for Shamsi is out next

Giants need 7 off the last six overs

Vinod Rajpal: "I cant remeber that Rashid Khan has been hit for 3 Maximum's in an over ever in T20s, am i right @Abhimanyu ?" -- May have happened in the last year or so. He was pretty poor in the IPL for a while

Kev : "These two batted together beautifully for Jaffna Kings in the LPL before"

Farooqi returns