Unbeaten half-centuries from Dasun Shanaka and Sikandar Raza helped Dubai Capitals register a resounding seven-wicket win over MI Emirates in DP’s 29th match. World ILT20 at the Dubai International Stadium in front of Sunday’s crowd.
Chasing MI Emirates’ 164 for 7, Dasun Shanaka and Sikandar Raza played unbeaten knocks of 58 and 56 off 36 balls respectively. Shanaka hit five fours and three sixes while Raza hit four fours and four sixes. Their unbeaten 122-run partnership for the fourth wicket in 11.3 overs ensured victory for Dubai Capitals with 11 balls to spare.
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Although MI Emirates has already qualified for the playoffs, Dubai Capitals have now moved up to the fourth spot with nine points above Sharjah Warriors. Seven points between Sharjah Warriors and second-placed Gulf Giants in Sharjah Cricket In this way, on Monday the stadium will decide the last place in the playoffs.
Dubai Capitals won the toss and elected to bowl. MI Emirates opener Andre Fletcher hit two consecutive fours off Fred Klaasen in the first over but wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa was dismissed for 9 off Jake Ball on the first ball of the second over. 2 runs on the fourth ball of the same over.
Lorcan Tucker, who came in with opener Mohammad Wasim, hit Hazrat Luqman, who bowled the third over, for two fours. Wasim also lofted the ball over mid-on for a boundary, and then in the very next over he hit Akif Raja for his first six of the match over mid-wicket. On 21, Tucker was bowled by Sikandar Raza when he missed the paddle sweep. At the end of the Powerplay, MI Emirates were 58 for 3.
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Adam Zampa was introduced as usual for the seventh over. Wasim hit his second six over mid-wicket off Raza in the eighth over but was clean bowled by Zampa in the ninth over while attempting a slog sweep for 31. At the halfway stage, MI Emirates were 77 for 4. Dan Mousley was out for 3 runs. Dasun Shanaka dismissed Luqman despite finding the ball running in from square leg.
Puran played some aggressive shots and took the score past 100 runs in the 14th over. Zampa, who was re-inducted for the 17th over, greeted Pooran with a six over square leg, but he was caught on the fourth ball of that over by Klaasen at cover sweep for 43. Jordan Thompson hit Klaasen for two sixes. 19th over to take the score past 150. Thompson dismissed Powell straight to mid-off for 16 on the first ball of the last over. In the last five overs, MI Emirates scored 48 runs and lost three wickets to post a challenging 164 for 7 in 20 overs. ,
Brad Wheel, who opened the bowling for MI Emirates, conceded just four runs in his first over while Craig Overton conceded just one run in the second over. In the third over, Dubai Capitals opener Robin Uthappa hit Weil for a six and Munsey also hit a four. Munsey also hit Overton for a six to accelerate the run flow. Uthappa then hit Zahoor Khan for a six over backward square but fell to Overton in the sixth over after dismissing wicketkeeper Tucker for 29.
At the end of the power play, the score of Dubai Capitals was 44 runs. Muesli for duck. Khan didn’t concede any runs from that over as well.
Sikandar Raza and Dasun Shanaka made the score 62 for 3 in 10 overs. With 103 needed off the last ten overs, Raza hit Zaheer Khan for a six in his shots and also hit two fours in that over. Shanaka also hit Zahoor Khan who was hit for a six and a four in the 13th over. Their partnership got stronger and runs started flowing easily.
Dubai Capitals needed 37 runs in the last five overs as Shanaka smashed Jordan Thompson for 15 runs which included a six and two fours. Shanaka brought up his half-century in 32 balls and the pair registered their century partnership in 60 balls. Raza also completed his half-century in 34 balls with a six off Thompson. He ensured victory for his team in 18.1 overs.
Talking about their performance, Jake Ball of Dubai Capitals said, “We knew we needed to put pressure on our opponents after the Sharjah defeat last night. It’s good to have points on the board. We are fourth and hopefully we will be there by the end of tomorrow’s game.”
Meanwhile, Muhammad Wasim of MI Emirates said, “If Pooran and I had batted a few more overs, we could have put more runs on the board. We lost wickets at the wrong time. So we ended up 25-30 runs short.” ‘
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Dubai Capitals bt MI Emirates by 7 wkts. MI Emirates 164 for 7 in 20 overs (Muhammad Waseem 31, Lorcan Tucker 21, Nicholas Pooran 43, Dan Mousley 31n.o, Jake Ball 3 for 37, Adam Zampa 2 for 24) 29, Dasun Shanaka 58n.o, Sikandar Raza 56n.o, Zahir Khan 2 for 32)
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