Dubai Capitals knocked out Abu Dhabi Knight Riders with an emphatic 85-run win in the Eliminator of the ILT20 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Superb knocks from opener Tom Banton (44 off 31 balls), Tom Abell (41 off 29 balls), skipper Sam Billings (46 off 26 balls) and Sikandar Raza (40 off 19 balls) helped Dubai Capitals make 188 for 5 in 20 overs.
Knight Riders failed to rise to the challenge and were bowled out for a paltry 103 as Scott Kuggeleijn (4 for 17), Zahir Khan (2 for 25) and Raza (2 for 27) came up with fine bowling spells for the Dubai Capitals.
Capitals will now play the loser of Wednesday’s Qualifier 1 between MI Emirates and Gulf Giants for a place in Saturday’s final.
The Qualifier 2 will be played on Thursday.
Raza, who was named Player of the Match for his brilliant all-round performance, was delighted with the team’s comprehensive victory on Tuesday.
“Any time a role is given to me, I will try to give my best. As long as I am prepared, I am happy to do it,” he said.
“We thought that if we get 160, they have to bat really well to win. Once we got 188, all we had to do was to get wickets in the powerplay. And once we did that, we were always in the game.”
Skipper Billings said the big total on the board made the difference.
“We have played a couple of games here. But getting yourself in is always tricky. If you can get past 10-15, you can get going. We thought 160 plus would be a very good score, and we were very happy with that score,” he said.
“They (Kuggeleijn and Stone) complement each other brilliantly. I am really happy with the way we have gone in the last three games. We are in a very good shape.”
Meanwhile, Knight Riders captain Sunil Narine was gracious in defeat.
“In this tournament, powerplay is the key. Losing three wickets, we were always on the back foot,” he said.
“Reaching the second round was our first goal. We had a decent tournament. There were some positives. A lovely team bonding.”
Brief scores:
Dubai Capitals beat Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by 85 runs.
Dubai Capitals 188 for 5 in 20 overs (Tom Banton 44, Tom Abell 41, Sam Billings 46 not out, Sikandar Raza 40, Sabir Ali 2 for 35)
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 103 in 16.5 overs (Sam Hain 29, David Willey 36, Scott Kuggeleijn 4 for 17, Zahir Khan 2 for 25, Sikandar Raza 2 for 27).
Today’s match:
Qualifier 1
MI Emirates vs Gulf Giants
Dubai International Stadium
6:30 pm UAE Time