(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)
Sharjah Warriorz completed a sensational comeback in the tournament as they became the third team to seal a spot in the playoffs at the ILT20 Season 3. Buoyed by a Stellar knock from Tom Kohler-Cadmore, the Warriorz defeated the MI Emirates by eight wickets in a must-win match at the Zayed cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The result also knocks the Gulf Giants out of the race for a playoff berth.
Kohler-Cadmore stood out with 91 runs off 52 balls in an endeavour that saw seven fours and five sixes. Matthew Wade, playing his first game of the season, also made his presence felt with a breezy knock of 44 runs in 25 balls.
The victory not only placed Sharjah Warriorz into the playoffs for the first time in the history of the competition but also marked the team's first win against the MI Emirates across three seasons.
Earlier in the day, Tom Banton extended his purple patch to remain unbeaten on 84 runs and drove the MI Emirates to 173/5 despite Tim Southee's frugal spell of 1 for 22 in four overs.
Though the Warriorz lost Johnson Charles early for only 14 runs, they had a lucrative powerplay with Jason Roy smoking 18 runs off Alzarri Joseph in the sixth over to finish the phase at 59/1 with Tom Kohler-Cadmore unbeaten on 24 runs at the other end.
While Roy was run out soon after for 22 runs, Kohler-Cadmore was in fine form, cracking boundaries at will, reaching his half-century off 29 balls.
Australia's Wade joined Kohler-Cadmore in a 102-run stand that came in just 55 balls. Wade took the pressure off Kohler-Cadmore, taking up the onus of finding the boundaries.
“We've been playing for three years, and we haven't been to the finals, that was the goal going into this season," said Kohler-Cadmore who was named man-of-the-match.
"I just want to put the pressure back on them, sometimes they'll get the better of me, but I tend to do well if I get a start, and I had some luck as well. Wade played some fine shots and eased us home. We've had a great group; the boys have been together even when we lost heavily.”
Meanwhile, MI Emirates captain Nicholas Pooran was disappointed with the result.
"I thought we were 10-15 runs short. We allowed them to get back into the game too many times, both with the ball and the bat," Pooran said.
"They batted well, and our fielding wasn't great in terms of execution. We missed a few chances and were sloppy in the field. They also bowled well into the wicket and put us under pressure.”
Brief scores:
Sharjah Warriorz beat MI Emirates by eight wickets
MI Emirates 173/5 in 20 overs (Tom Banton 84 not out, Kusal Perera 31, Muhammad Waseem 21, Tim Southee 1 for 22, Dilshan Madushanka 1 for 33, Adam Milne 1 for 40)
Sharjah Warriorz 176/2 in 17.2 overs (Tom Kohler-Cadmore 91 not out, Matthew Wade 44 not out, Jason Roy 22, Fazalhaq Farooqi 1 for 22)
Player-of-the-match: Tom Kohler-Cadmore
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