SHAR­JAH – The Kieron Pol­lard-led MI Emi­rates romped in­to the fi­nal of the In­ter­na­tion­al League T20 with a com­pre­hen­sive sev­en-wick­et vic­to­ry over Ja­son Hold­er’s Abu Dhabi Knight Rid­ers in the Unit­ed Arab Emi­rates on Fri­day in Qual­i­fi­er 2.

Al­is­han Shara­fu scored an un­beat­en, even half-cen­tu­ry and Alex Hales made 29, but none of the oth­er Knight Rid­ers bat­ters showed up to the par­ty, as they were re­strict­ed to 120 for eight in their 20 overs af­ter be­ing sent in to bat at the Shar­jah Crick­et Sta­di­um.

The West In­di­an trio of Sunil Nar­ine (4), An­dre Rus­sell (3) and Hold­er (1), all failed with the bat in a dis­ap­point­ing dis­play.

AM Ghaz­an­far (3-24), Muham­mad Ro­hid (2-19) and Fazal­haq Fa­rooqi (2-30), were the main de­stroy­ers for the Emi­rates.

Tom Ban­ton then smashed an un­beat­en 63 off 53 balls with six fours and one six, and Shak­ib Al Hasan made 38, to see the Emi­rates cruise to 121 for three in 16.1 overs.

The pair shared a part­ner­ship of 82 for the third wick­et, which res­cued their side from 36 for two and car­ried them to safe­ty.

The Emi­rates will play the Desert Vipers in Sun­day’s fi­nal at the Dubai In­ter­na­tion­al Crick­et Sta­di­um.

CMC