Gulf Giants vs MI Emirates — Match 5 Preview

Gulf Giants vs MI Emirates, Tuesday, 24 November 2026 — evening session, Dubai

The 5th match of the DP World ILT20 Season 5 is Gulf Giants against MI Emirates on Tuesday, 24 November 2026, in the evening session, at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. It is the evening game at a ground hosting 15 matches this season.

This is the fifth match of the season and the second game for both sides, after the Giants opened in Sharjah and MI Emirates opened the tournament against the Vipers on Saturday. Dubai hosts 15 matches this season, and this is the second of them. The full scorecard will appear on this page once the match is played.

Scorecard

Match yet to begin. The scorecard appears here once the match starts.

How both sides arrive in Season 5

Pre-season — the season starts on Saturday 21 November 2026, so there is no Season 5 form yet. What follows is what each side brings into the tournament.

Jos Buttler captains the Giants, and the top order is the reason this side is talked about as a title contender: Buttler, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and Liam Livingstone can all win a game in ten overs. Simon Helmot's job is to make sure the bowling gives that batting enough to work with.

Nicholas Pooran captains MI Emirates, with Mark Boucher coaching. The 2024 champions have Rashid Khan, Jonny Bairstow and Fazalhaq Farooqi, and they arrive in Dubai after opening the season against the defending champions. A win here would put their campaign firmly on track.

Two points, and the first marker of the season

A win is worth two points, and a no-result is worth one. Each side plays ten league matches, and the top four reach the playoffs.

Two points are on offer, and in a fixture this even the points matter less than the message: the winner joins the early leaders, while the loser is left with at most one win from two, with the champions and the Capitals still to play. The top four reach the playoffs from 16 December.

Both sides know the league is only ten matches long, so no game is a free hit. For the Giants, beating MI Emirates would confirm that their batting-heavy build is the right one. For MI Emirates, a win in Dubai would show the new coaching set-up has the side ready for the teams above them.

The players who can decide it

Every name below links to that player's profile.

Jos Buttler captains the Giants and opens their batting. He is the most dangerous opener in this fixture, and MI Emirates will plan their first six overs around keeping him quiet.

Liam Livingstone bats in the Giants' middle order and bowls spin, giving them a second all-round option. His hitting against MI Emirates' spinners in the middle overs is one of the game's key battles.

Nicholas Pooran captains MI Emirates and bats at the heart of their order. He has won games from difficult positions before, and the Giants will know that no total is safe while he is still at the crease.

Jonny Bairstow opens for MI Emirates and sets the pace of their innings. Against a Giants attack that includes Tabraiz Shamsi and Blessing Muzarabani, his start will decide whether MI Emirates bat on the front foot.

Past meetings between these two sides

Ten meetings, and the Giants lead 5–4, with one game abandoned without a result in January 2023. The recent run is split down the middle: MI Emirates won by 5 wickets in January 2025, the Giants by 6 wickets in December 2025, and MI Emirates again by 8 wickets later that month. No side has won two in a row in this fixture since 2023.

Giants lead the head-to-head 5–4 across 10 past meetings, from the 2023 season to last season.

One of the ten, on 27 January 2023, was abandoned without a result.

Match information

Evening session — the exact start time has not been published, so this page lists the session only. Match yet to begin — the scorecard will appear on this page after the match.

Previous and next matches

← Match 4: Warriorz vs Vipers

Match 6: Capitals vs Vipers →