DUBAI: Rovman Powell produced a devastating unbeaten knock to lead the Dubai Capitals to their first victory of this year’s ILT20 crushing the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by 83 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Powell’s unbeaten 96 off 52 balls, combined with Jordan Cox’s 52, helped the Capitals recover from a stuttering start to post 186 for 6.
The Knight Riders never recovered in response, collapsing to 103 all out in 15.3 overs in a result that significantly boosted the Capitals’ net run rate.
The win marked Dubai Capitals’ second-biggest by runs in the tournament, with four of their largest margins in the competition coming against the Knight Riders.
Put in to bat, Dubai Capitals endured a shaky opening, with Toby Albert (8 off 8) and Sediqullah Atal (8 off 11) failing to capitalise on early reprieves offered by sloppy fielding.
The side reached 43 for 2 in the powerplay before Piyush Chawla, appearing in his 300th T20 match, struck with his first delivery to remove Shayan Jahangir, leaving the Capitals three down.
Cox and Powell then took command, stitching together a decisive 119-run partnership off 76 balls. Powell combined power with intelligent strike rotation, striking eight fours and four sixes, while Cox anchored the stand with four boundaries and a six. Cox fell shortly after reaching his half-century, but Powell finished strongly, plundering two fours and two sixes off Andre Russell in the final over to push the total to 186.
In reply, the Knight Riders’ chase unravelled almost immediately. David Willey removed Alex Hales for a first-ball duck and dismissed Alishan Sharafu in the opening over, while Mustafizur Rahman claimed a golden duck from Unmukt Chand to leave the visitors reeling at 10 for three.
Phil Salt offered brief resistance with 27 before falling to Rahman, with the Knight Riders 44 for four at the end of the powerplay. Andre Russell provided momentary fireworks, striking Waqar Salamkheil for two towering sixes, but was dismissed attempting a third.
Mohammed Nabi and Salamkheil tightened the noose through the middle overs as wickets fell regularly, including those of skipper Jason Holder, Sunil Narine and Sherfane Rutherford. Salamkheil sealed the rout by dismissing Olly Stone to complete a comprehensive Capitals victory.
“They have two high quality spinners in Narine and Chawla. It was important when I went to bat that I fought them off and just not bat a lot of dot balls,” player of the match Powell said.
“Once I did that, batting against the fast bowlers came naturally. Cox was very, very helpful. We just didn’t want to get stagnant in the middle.
“We didn’t want Narine or Chawla to keep bowling at one player and that was the best way to bat against two world-class spinners like them,” he added.
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders captain Holder admitted his side fell short.
“We’ve got a bit to learn from this game. We didn’t play our best cricket today. We were probably just a few runs short in all three departments,” he said.
“We were a little bit untidy in our bowling phases, conceded too many big overs, and in batting, we never really got the partnerships going. I thought Powell and Cox put together a really good partnership, which took the game away from us.”
