Mark Adair. Pic Credits: X

ILT20 2025 : Mark Adair Excels & Gulf Giants Outplay MI Emirates In A Thrilling Last Ball Finish By 2 Wickets

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Mark Adair‘s powerful all round show helped Gulf Giants beat Mumbai Indians Emirates by 2 wickets in the thrilling encounter. Player of the Match Mark Adair was an active participant in all the three departments like taking wickets and catches and then scoring crucial runs with the bat in the run chase to grant Gulf Giants a 2 wicket win .

Gulf Giants snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against MI Emirates in the ILT20 2025 on Saturday. Giants won the match by three wickets at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Asked to bat, MI Emirates posted a total of 151 for eight, which Gulf Giants chased off the last ball.

Pitch Report and Toss

Pitch Report: There’s a good covering of grass on this surface. The other things the bowlers will be looking at is the 61m square boundary, on the far side it’s 73m and down the ground, it’s a 75m hit. I think the pacers will enjoy bowling on this surface and it will be good for strokeplay overall as well, reckons Alan Wilkins.

Toss : Gulf Giants skipper James Vince won the toss and chose to bowl with no changes in the playing XI. Mumbai Indians Emirates skipper Nicholas Pooran batting first made one change in the playing XI.

Tom Banton’s half century and Kieron Pollard’s late flourish powers MIE to 151 for 6 in 20 overs

Daniel Worrall took Gulf Giants off to a flyer with the ball as he removed both the MI Emirates openers in Kusal Perera and Muhammad Waseem early. Things got worse for MI when they lost skipper Nicholas Pooran and Dan Mousley to see themselves reeling at 57 for four. Tom Banton (56:39b, 4×8, 1×6) and Kieron Pollard (34:25b, 2×4, 3×6) joined hands and led the rescue charge.

MI Emirates Batting Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo
MI Emirates Batting Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo

The Banton-Pollard duo added 68 runs for the fifth wicket before Akeal Hossein (20 not out:11b, 2×6) finished the innings on high to take the MI Emirates to a total of 151 for six. Mark Adair shone for the Gulf Giants with taking a wicket and two catches for the Gulf Giants.

Gulf Giants Bowling Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo
Gulf Giants Bowling Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo

Mark Adair’s 8 ball 15 a key inning amongst all the others as Gulf Giants beats MI Emirates in a thrilling last ball finish by 2 wickets

The chase didn’t go the way Gulf Giants would’ve wanted as they lost captain James Vince and Jordan Cox. After that, Tom Alsop (32:36b, 3×4) and Gerhard Erasmus (37:28b, 3×4, 2×6) tried to get the innings back on track for their team, adding 65 runs for the third wicket. But both the batters lost their wickets in quick succession as Gulf Giants was left tottering at 92 for four.

Gulf Giants Batting Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo
Gulf Giants Batting Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo

After that, the lower order came up with handy contributions and managed to win the game for their team off the last ball as the Giants won the match with two wickets in hand. Player of the Match Mark Adair stunned with his batting innings to with a 8 ball 15 in a cameo that helped Gulf Giants win the match by 2 wickets a second loss to Mumbai Indians Emirates in a space of two days.

MI Emirates Bowling Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo
MI Emirates Bowling Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo

Presentations and Road Ahead

Nicholas Pooran the loosing MIE skipper said : Tough one today. We weren’t disciplined, paid a price as a team. It was about Spirit of the Game. By the laws out yes. The batter seemed to have heard the call for the over but I certainly didn’t, which is why I appealed.

James Vince the winning GG skipper said : Stumbled at the end but coming away with two points is important today. Couple of games, key moments haven’t gone our way. It was important to get back to winning ways. We restricted them and got a couple of important wickets. Then they got away. 150 wasn’t impossible to chase down.

Mark Adair Player of the Match for his all round show said : It was just basics again (about his plans). Tom Curran came in and shared his experience. The ball swirls, there is always wind here, thankfully caught that.

Gee! We were so close to the Super Over. The Giants pick up two crucial points that would lift them from the last spot. They almost messed up though. With just 1 needed off 3, Mousley bowled two dots, which also had the wicket of Tom Curran but he couldn’t close out the last ball properly. 151 from MIE was below par you would say. But the Giants also had a shaky start. Erasmus and Alsop stitched a fifty-run stand for the third wicket.

Again quick wickets fell as Muhammad Rohid Khan, Fazalhaq and Alzarri kept getting breakthroughs. Despite some soft dismissals, Giants managed to get home, thanks to Curran and  Mark Adair getting some timely boundaries. Curran was interestingly run out, sure would have been a big debate, but the kind MIE decided to withdraw the appeal despite the rulebook being saying out.

Also Read: IND vs ENG: “Side Arm Specialists In India Need To Work Hard To Prepare Batters For Tough Times”- Abhishek Jain Gives His Invaluable Insights


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