Dubai Capitals knock out Knight Riders in the Eliminator by 85 runs

Dubai Capitals eliminated Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by 85 runs through a clinical all-round show in the Eliminator of the DP World ILT20 season 2 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Tuesday night.

Invaluable and timely knocks from opener Tom Banton, who scored 44 off 31 balls with seven boundaries, Tom Abell, who contributed 41 off 29 balls with six boundaries, and skipper Sam Billings, who remained unbeaten on 46 off 26 balls with two boundaries and two sixes, as well as Sikandar Raza’s breezy 40 off 19 balls with five boundaries and one six, gave Dubai Capitals a winning total of 188 for 5.

Knight Riders failed to rise to the challenge and were bowled out for a paltry 103 runs. As a result, Capitals booked their slot for the Qualifier 2.

Sikandar Raza emerged the hero once again for Capitals to bag the Player of the Match award.

Receiving the award, he said: “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. 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,” he said.

A happy Capitals’ skipper Sam Billings, meanwhile said after the match: “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+ would be a very good score, and we were very happy with that score. 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.”

Sunil Narine, captain of Knight Riders, was sporting despite the defeat: “In this tournament, powerplay is the key. Losing three wickets, we were always on the back foot. Reaching the second round was our first goal. We had a decent tournament. There were some positives. A lovely team bonding.”

Wednesday’s match:

Fans can tune in to Ariana Television from 6.30pm local time to watch the Qualifier 1 round live.

This critical match will see defending champions Gulf Giants take on MI Emirates at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.