MI Emirates beat Gulf Giants by eight wickets in Match 26 of ILT20 2025-26, and if you are searching for the MI Emirates vs Gulf Giants Match Scorecard, here is the direct answer: Gulf Giants scored 141/6 in 20 overs, MI Emirates chased it down at 142/2 in 16.3 overs, and Muhammad Waseem was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 59. Nicholas Pooran top-scored with an unbeaten 69, and the pair’s 140-run stand off 89 balls decided the contest after MI Emirates slipped to 2/2 inside the first two overs. This is the most detailed breakdown available of the MI Emirates vs Gulf Giants Match Scorecard-full batting and bowling cards, fall of wickets, power play scores, playing XIs, head-to-head history, player quotes, the partnership that turned the chase, and what the result meant for the ILT20 2025-26 playoff race.

Match at a Glance

MI Emirates beat Gulf Giants by 8 wickets at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, on December 23, 2025, chasing 142 in 16.3 overs after winning the toss and choosing to field first.

Detail	Result
Match	ILT20 2025-26, Match 26
Venue	Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Toss	MI Emirates won, elected to field first
Gulf Giants	141/6 (20 overs)
MI Emirates	142/2 (16.3 overs)
Result	MI Emirates won by 8 wickets
Balls remaining	21
Player of the Match	Muhammad Waseem-59* (42)
Top scorer	Nicholas Pooran-69* (49)
MI Emirates win streak	4 consecutive wins
Gulf Giants losing streak	5 consecutive losses

Why This Match Mattered

Beyond the raw scorecard numbers, this was a playoff-defining T20 fixture in the DP World International League T20 season. The win officially confirmed MI Emirates’ place in the playoffs-their fourth straight victory-while Gulf Giants’ defeat left their own qualification hopes hanging on their final league game against Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, with results elsewhere also needing to fall their way.

Playing XIs for Both Teams

Knowing exactly who took the field helps put the individual performances in context. Both sides made selection calls shaped by recent form and conditions at Zayed Cricket Stadium.

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MI Emirates Playing XI

Player	Role
Jonny Bairstow	Wicketkeeper-Batter
Tom Banton	Wicketkeeper-Batter
Muhammad Waseem	Batter
Nicholas Pooran (c & wk)	Wicketkeeper-Batter
Kieron Pollard	Batting Allrounder
Romario Shepherd	Bowling Allrounder
Shakib Al Hasan	Allrounder
Allah Ghazanfar	Bowler
Zahoor Khan	Bowler
Arab Gul	Bowler
Fazalhaq Farooqi	Bowler

Gulf Giants Playing XI

Player	Role
Rahmanullah Gurbaz	Wicketkeeper-Batter
James Vince (c)	Batter
Asif Khan	Batter
Moeen Ali	Allrounder
Lorcan Tucker	Wicketkeeper-Batter
Azmatullah Omarzai	Allrounder
Kyle Mayers	Allrounder
Mark Adair	Bowler
Haider Razzaq	Bowler
Fred Klaassen	Bowler
Tabraiz Shamsi	Bowler

Gulf Giants Full Scorecard

Gulf Giants finished on 141/6 from their 20 overs, built around a 48-ball fifty from Moeen Ali, after losing three wickets inside the power play. Gulf Giants posted a competitive 141/6, but their innings lost momentum after early breakthroughs from MI Emirates’ new-ball bowlers.

Gulf Giants Batting Card

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
Rahmanullah Gurbaz	b Farooqi	11	10	1	1	110.00
James Vince	b Shepherd	3	4	0	0	75.00
Asif Khan	c Krishnamurthi b Shepherd	12	8	1	1	150.00
Moeen Ali	c Banton b Zahoor Khan	51	48	2	2	106.25
Lorcan Tucker	lbw b Arab Gul	13	13	2	0	100.00
Azmatullah Omarzai	c Banton b Farooqi	14	19	1	0	73.68
Kyle Mayers	not out	28	18	4	1	155.56
Extras		9	(b 2, lb 1, w 6)
Total		141/6	(20 overs, RR: 7.05)

Power play (overs 1-6): 36/3

Gulf Giants Fall of Wickets

Wicket	Score	Batter	Over
1st	10	James Vince	1.3
2nd	16	Rahmanullah Gurbaz	2.5
3rd	27	Asif Khan	3.5
4th	49	Lorcan Tucker	8.3
5th	89	Azmatullah Omarzai	14.1
6th	141	Moeen Ali	19.6

MI Emirates Bowling Card

Bowler	O	M	R	W	Econ
Shakib Al Hasan	2	0	10	0	5.00
Romario Shepherd	4	0	36	2	9.00
Fazalhaq Farooqi	4	0	17	2	4.25
Allah Ghazanfar	3	0	20	0	6.67
Zahoor Khan	4	0	40	1	10.00
Arab Gul	2	0	11	1	5.50
Kieron Pollard	1	0	4	0	4.00

Fazalhaq Farooqi produced MI Emirates’ most economical spell, taking 2/17 from four overs at 4.25 runs per over. He dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz with the new ball and returned to remove Azmatullah Omarzai, restricting Gulf Giants after Moeen Ali’s fifty had threatened a total closer to 160.

Moeen Ali’s Fifty: The Innings’ Backbone

Moeen Ali‘s 51 off 48 balls was the only score of substance in the top six, arriving at a strike rate of 106.25. He batted through three partners falling around him, anchoring the innings from the third over until he was caught behind point in the final over. Without his contribution, Gulf Giants’ total would have fallen well short of a defendable score on this surface.

MI Emirates Full Scorecard

MI Emirates lost both openers inside the first two overs, then rebuilt through an unbroken third-wicket stand that carried them comfortably to the target with overs to spare. The chase is the single most important part of this MI Emirates vs Gulf Giants Match Scorecard, because it turned a shaky start into one of the more emphatic wins of the ILT20 2025-26 season.

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MI Emirates Batting Card

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
Jonny Bairstow	lbw b Adair	0	3	0	0	0.00
Tom Banton	c Vince b Omarzai	0	5	0	0	0.00
Nicholas Pooran	not out	69	49	6	3	140.82
Muhammad Waseem	not out	59	42	3	3	140.47
Extras		14	(w 7, lb 7)
Total		142/2	(16.3 overs, RR: 8.60)

Power play (overs 1-6): 33/2

MI Emirates Fall of Wickets

Wicket	Score	Batter	Over
1st	1	Jonny Bairstow	0.4
2nd	2	Tom Banton	1.4

Gulf Giants Bowling Card

Bowler	O	M	R	W	Econ
Mark Adair	3.3	0	30	1	8.57
Azmatullah Omarzai	3	0	20	1	6.67
Fred Klaassen	3	0	30	0	10.00
Haider Razzaq	3	0	18	0	6.00
Kyle Mayers	1	0	11	0	11.00
Tabraiz Shamsi	3	0	26	0	8.67

Why MI Emirates Won: The Pooran-Waseem Partnership

Nicholas Pooran and Muhammad Waseem added an unbeaten 140 runs off 89 balls after MI Emirates slipped to 2/2, accelerating through three clear phases to seal the chase with 21 balls in hand. This stand is the real story behind the result, worth breaking down phase by phase to understand exactly how the momentum shifted.

The Rocky Start: 2/2 in Two Overs

Mark Adair trapped Jonny Bairstow lbw in the very first over, and Tom Banton toe-ended a catch to mid-off off Azmatullah Omarzai in the next. At 2/2, a target of 142 looked genuinely testing, and MI Emirates were still only 33/2 at the end of the power play-below the pace a chase of this size usually demands.

The Missed Chance That Changed Everything

The Gulf Giants had one clear opportunity to break the stand before it grew dangerous: in the 8th over, a mix-up in the field led to a botched run-out attempt involving Kyle Mayers. The chance went down, and from that point, according to the official match report, “the Emirates never looked back.”

Partnership Acceleration: Phase by Phase

The Pooran-Waseem stand did not explode immediately. It built in three distinct gears, visible directly in the scorecard’s own milestone markers:

Partnership phase	Runs	Balls	Run rate
0 to 50	50	44	6.82
50 to 100	50	30	10.00
100 to 140*	40	15	16.00

This acceleration curve is the clearest evidence of intent in the innings: both batters absorbed the initial pressure, rotated the strike through the middle overs, then went after the bowling once the required rate climbed in the closing stages. By the end of the 16th over, MI Emirates were 127/2 needing just 15 runs from 24 balls, with Waseem unbeaten on 59 and Pooran on 55-the game already as good as over.

The Finishing Blows

Pooran ended the match himself, hitting Mark Adair for back-to-back sixes early in the 17th over-one a slog-sweep over backward square leg, the other a clean strike over the midwicket fence-to complete an eight-wicket win with 21 balls to spare.

Individual Milestones

Pooran reached his fifty off 43 balls, Waseem brought him up off 38. Waseem finished unbeaten on 59 from 42 balls with three fours and three sixes and was named Player of the Match, while Pooran top-scored with an unbeaten 69 from 49 deliveries, striking six fours and three sixes. Waseem’s calmer, more measured innings against the new ball earned him the Player of the Match award ahead of Pooran’s higher score, a decision that reflects how central his role was in absorbing the initial pressure before Pooran cut loose.

In Their Own Words

Speaking after the match, Player of the Match Muhammad Waseem explained the plan that got MI Emirates through the tricky opening overs: “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.” MI Emirates’ Kieron Pollard called it one of the side’s most clinical wins of the season: “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.”

Bowling Plans and Where They Broke Down

Fazalhaq Farooqi’s 2/17 was MI Emirates’ standout bowling performance, but once Pooran and Waseem were set, Gulf Giants had no equivalent control with the ball. This section explains the tactical gap between the two attacks.

MI Emirates’ New-Ball Success

MI Emirates’ seamers did the early damage in Gulf Giants’ innings, with Farooqi and Shepherd combining to remove three top-order batters inside the power play. Shepherd’s two wickets came at 9 an over, meaning Moeen Ali’s 51 off 48 balls never had support at the other end to push the total past 150.

Gulf Giants’ Missing Death-Overs Plan

In the chase, Gulf Giants also struck twice inside the first two overs through Adair and Omarzai. But once the partnership was established, no Gulf Giants bowler managed a breakthrough-Tabraiz Shamsi’s three overs of spin went for 26 without a wicket, and the same pattern held across the rest of the attack through the closing overs. A T20 chase built on a 140-run stand is exactly the situation frontline spinners are expected to break, and Gulf Giants’ failure to do so proved decisive.

Gulf Giants Captain’s Verdict

James Vince was candid in his post-match assessment of his side’s batting effort: “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.” On his side’s playoff hopes, Vince added: “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. It’s do or die time now.”

Head-to-Head: MI Emirates vs Gulf Giants

This was the second meeting between these two sides in ILT20 2025-26-Gulf Giants had won the first encounter earlier in the season. Here is how the last five meetings before this match had gone:

Date	Result	Margin
Dec 4, 2025	Gulf Giants won	6 wickets
Jan 31, 2025	MI Emirates won	5 wickets
Jan 25, 2025	Gulf Giants won	2 wickets
Feb 14, 2024	MI Emirates won	45 runs
Feb 8, 2024	Gulf Giants won	5 runs

With this eight-wicket win, MI Emirates evened the head-to-head ledger for the 2025-26 season at 1-1, while extending a tightly contested rivalry that has swung both ways across ILT20 history.

Tournament Impact

The win confirmed MI Emirates’ place in the ILT20 2025-26 playoffs, while Gulf Giants’ campaign continued to depend on finding support for Moeen Ali in the middle order. This section of the MI Emirates vs Gulf Giants Match Scorecard analysis explains exactly why the result carried extra significance beyond a routine league match.

What It Means for MI Emirates

MI Emirates’ pattern in this result-early wickets absorbed, followed by a set pair finishing the game-secured their playoff qualification and marked their fourth consecutive win. Their batting depth, with Pooran and Waseem both capable of anchoring or accelerating a chase, gives them a template that has now worked repeatedly through the back half of the season.

What It Means for Gulf Giants

For Gulf Giants, this was a fifth consecutive defeat and their eleventh straight winless match when batting first, a streak stretching back to an earlier ILT20 season. The top-order collapse to 27/3 inside four overs put pressure on the innings that Kyle Mayers’ unbeaten 28 off 18 could only partly repair. Their season now hinges entirely on winning their final league match against Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and hoping other results, particularly involving Sharjah Warriors, go their way.

Conditions at Zayed Cricket Stadium

Dew played a decisive role in the second innings. MI Emirates all-rounder Kieron Pollard pointed to it directly when explaining how comfortably his side chased the target down: “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.” A wet ball in the back half of a night game typically favors the side batting second, and Gulf Giants’ spinners-Tabraiz Shamsi in particular-struggled to find consistent purchase once the dew set in, which helps explain why the frontline spin option went for 26 runs without a wicket in the run chase.

Key Numbers Comparison

Metric	Gulf Giants	MI Emirates
Total	141/6	142/2
Overs faced	20.0	16.3
Run rate	7.05	8.60
Powerplay score	36/3	33/2
Highest individual score	Moeen Ali-51	Nicholas Pooran-69*
Best bowling figures	Fazalhaq Farooqi 2/17 (MIE)	Mark Adair 1/30 / Azmatullah Omarzai 1/20 (GG)
Boundaries (4s+6s)	11 fours, 5 sixes	9 fours, 6 sixes

Despite facing fewer overs, MI Emirates finished at a noticeably higher run rate than Gulf Giants-a direct result of the Pooran-Waseem stand’s final acceleration phase, which alone was worth 16 runs an over.

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