Abu Dhabi Knight Riders vs Mi Emirates

Mi Emirates beat Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by 7 wickets in the ILT20 on 2 January 2026 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The Knight Riders could only post 120/8 from their 20 overs, a total that fell 58 runs short of the venue's average first-innings score of 178. Mi Emirates then cruised to 122/3, doing the bulk of the damage in the middle phase of the chase. Shakib Al Hasan won the player of the match award. The result extended Mi Emirates' head-to-head dominance to 8 wins from 9 meetings.

The match followed a familiar pattern for this fixture. Abu Dhabi Knight Riders lost 2 wickets in the powerplay for 31 runs, steadied through the middle overs with 52 runs and 2 more wickets, then lost 4 wickets for 37 in the death. That collapse proved decisive. A score around 120 was always going to ask more questions of the fielding side than the batting side on a ground that historically favours chasing teams.

Mi Emirates' reply was unhurried early on. Their powerplay produced 26/1, below the venue's average of 42 powerplay runs, but what followed rendered that caution irrelevant. The middle overs brought 87 runs for just 1 wicket, effectively ending the contest several overs before the finish. They crossed with 9 balls remaining.