DUBAI
\nRovman Powell produced a devastating unbeaten knock to lead the Dubai Capitals to their first victory of this year\u2019s ILT20 crushing the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by 83 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
\nPowell\u2019s unbeaten 96 off 52 balls, combined with Jordan Cox\u2019s 52, helped the Capitals recover from a stuttering start to post 186 for 6.
\nThe Knight Riders never recovered in response, collapsing to 103 all out in 15.3 overs in a result that significantly boosted the Capitals\u2019 net run rate.
\nThe win marked Dubai Capitals\u2019 second-biggest by runs in the tournament, with four of their largest margins in the competition coming against the Knight Riders.
\nPut 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.
\nThe 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.
\nCox 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.
\nIn reply, the Knight Riders\u2019 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.
\nPhil 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.
\nMohammed 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.
\n\u201cThey 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,\u201d player of the match Powell said.
\n\u201cOnce I did that, batting against the fast bowlers came naturally. Cox was very, very helpful. We just didn\u2019t want to get stagnant in the middle.
\n\u201cWe didn\u2019t 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,\u201d he added.
\nAbu Dhabi Knight Riders captain Holder admitted his side fell short.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got a bit to learn from this game. We didn\u2019t play our best cricket today. We were probably just a few runs short in all three departments,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DUBAI Rovman Powell produced a devastating unbeaten knock to lead the Dubai Capitals to their first victory of this year\u2019s ILT20 crushing the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by 83 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. Powell\u2019s unbeaten 96 off 52 balls, combined with Jordan Cox\u2019s 52, helped the Capitals recover from a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-518966","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n