Abu Dhabi Knight Riders remained in the running for the DP World ILT20 Season 4 title when it outplayed Dubai Capitals by 50 runs in the Eliminator at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.
Sparks had flown from both bat and ball right since the start of this maiden game at The Boland Park, and although Michael Pepper (0) contributed somewhat to his own downfall – caught off a leading edge two balls in to get Pretorius off the mark in T20 cricket – both he and Phil Salt knew they wouldn’t have a better sighter with which to face KKR’s tweakers.
Knight Riders will now take on MI Emirates in the Qualifier 2, which is scheduled to be held on Friday, while Desert Vipers awaits the winners in final, play Sunday (January 4).
Pepper scored his second half-century on the trot, contributing 72 off 49 balls with seven fours and three sixes. The charge, led by his 122-run opening-wicket stand off just 81 balls with Phil Salt (43 off 34), but the Capitals’ bowlers fought back with seven wickets for 36 runs to limit the Knight Riders to 158/7.
Spinners Sunil Narine, Jason Holder and Liam Livingstone took three wickets apiece to maintain their dominance for most part of the match and secure a fine win, dismissing the Capitals for 108.
Chasing 159, the Powerplay left bruises on Capitals as Abu Dhabi Knight Riders clawed through their top order. Jason Holder got the ball rolling in the second over with the wicket of Toby Albert (11 off 8) and Ajay Kumar dealt another blow in the following over by costing Jordan Cox his wicket (10 off 5).
The vice-like grip tightened even more after Sunil Narine had taken over, after he dismissed Shayan Jahangir (8 off 6) LbW and against produced one of those classic ripper to bowl Navin Bidaisee (7 off 10) in overs four and six respectively as Dubai Capitals crawled to 43/4.
Narine took his second wicket in the eighth over, dismissing Gulbadin Naib (7 off 10). The pressure told once more in the final over when Liam Livingstone lured Rovman Powell (12 off 14) into a miscued hit that was easily swallowed up in the deep. Just 16 runs were scored in overs 7–10 and another two wickets fell, the Capitals slipping to 64/6 at the halfway point, chase all but spiralling beyond grasp.
The match was well settled in the end stages by the Knight Riders. The collapse was triggered by Livingstone’s golden-arm spell, taking the wickets of James Neesham (19 off 13) in the 12th over and David Willey (2 off 6) in the 14th. The knockout punch came in the 17th over, when Holder struck twice off successive deliveries — he first dismissed Mohammad Nabi (27 off 21) and then had Muhammad Jawadullah caught for a duck — to kill any lingering hopes of late explosion.
Batting first, the Knight Riders of Abu Dhabi had a blistering powerplay. Michael Pepper and Phil Salt carried the Knight Riders to 55/0, as Pepper continued his blistering form, hitting four fours and two sixes in powerplay.
If Salt was playing the more measured innings, Pepper began in a hurry, reaching her fifty from 36 balls. The two also completed their second hundred-run stand in a row, with Salt smoking Muhammad Jawadullah over long-on to reach the landmark off 70 balls.
The momentum shifted dramatically soon after. The Knight Riders slumped to 8-5 following the wicket of Salt after they were cruising with a score of 122/0 in the fourteenth over when Mohammed Nabi dismiessd him. Two wickets went down in the 15th over, first set batsman Pepper was run out on a mix up with Andre Russell (1 off 4) and then the latter when he found his stumps castled by Haider Ali two balls after.
Nabi and Waqar Salamkheil then accounted for Alishan Sharafu (2 off 3) and Alex Hales (2 off 5) in successive overs as the Knight Riders slumped to 130/5 in 16.1 overs. Nabi got the better of Liam Livingstone (4 off 6) apart from wrapping up his spell with economical figures of 3/25.
Some respite came in the way of a captain’s knock from Jason Holder (22* off 11). Holder hammered two fours and a six with 10 coming off the last over to take his team to 158 for seven.
Man of the match Sunil Narine said, “To win games changes everything – it is very important. We have not been in the playoffs for three years and it’s something we’ve really trying to push hard. It’s emotional because we’ve played good cricket and the result didn’t come out.
“It was looking at one stage like 170, 180 but good we came back with the ball,” said Dubai Capitals skipper Mohammad Nabi. We just weren’t good enough as a unit with the bat. “Surely didn’t turn a lot as well, but they bowled beautifully to their fields. We wanted to rotate the strike and not lose wickets early, but it didn’t happen.”
Brief scores
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders beat Dubai Capitals by 50 runs
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 158/7 in 20 overs (Michael Pepper 72, Phil Salt 43, Jason Holder 22 not out, Mohammad Nabi 3 for 25, Waqar Salamkheil 1 for 25)
Dubai Capitals 108 all out in 16.2 overs (Mohammad Nabi 27, James Neesham 19, Sunil Narine 3 for 12, Jason Holder 3 for 18, Liam Livingstone 3 for 26)
Player of the match: Sunil Narine