That is the end of a doubleheader on Sunday from the ILT20 Season 4! MI Emirates pulled off a thrilling four-run win over Sharjah Warriorz in the afternoon game. Now, Dubai Capitals brushed aside Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in a one-sided contest. Both former champions have opened their winning account. Tomorrow, we have Desert Vipers taking on Gulf Giants in Dubai.
For now, this is me, AkshayaKrishna Polya, signing off on behalf of my commentator, Ajay Pal Singh and scorer, Yogesh Kumar. We will meet again. Until then, it is cheers!
Rovman Powell (POTM): "Yeah, I think we batted well against the spinners. It is important when I went into bat to play them well. They have two great spinners.
We were looking to rotate the strike, don't let Chawla or Narine to bowl to one batter for a long time.
After the 10 overs, they asked me what total we are looking for. My reply was that it is a good wicket and we should aim for 180-plus.
Last year, we had more match winners. This year, the onus is on the senior guys to deliver. Like me and Dasun. Lots of guys like Cox and Neesham have come in, they are all world-class.
This is a team that is close to my heart. In the IPL. I have lots of mates there Russell, Narine and Jason, it is always nice to get one better on them."
Player of the Match: Rovman Powell
Dasun Shanaka (Dubai Capitals Captain): "At the toss, we discussed about going from 160 to 180. Really happy with the way we set the tone.
After losing three early wickets, Rovman Powell and Jordan Cox steadied the ship brilliantly. We got power from Rovman Powell and stability from Jordan Cox.
We discussed about one batter taking it deep. We talked about a batter staying till the 18th or 19th over. Powell did that. He was special, so I'm really happy with how things happened.
We need to look at areas we can improve. Coming to our bowling, we executed really well. We bowled extremely well in the powerplay and picked up a few wickets. It changed the whole momentum of the game
It's rare for teams to win after batting first in Dubai, and we did tonight. We have the right combination, but we need to make sure we take that game deep. If there are areas to develop, we need to look into that.
The partnership with Cox and Powell was very impressive. We had the discussion, and after the last game, Rovman Powell wanted to deliver something special in this game. And Cox wanted to convert his start from the last game. That's the maturity they have gained by playing a lot of cricket, so I'm really happy for them."
Jason Holder (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders Captain): "Umm yeah, we have a bit to learn from this game. Don't think we played a complete game. Didn't get partnerships, were a bit under par in the field and didn't execute our plans well with the ball.
Russell has been one of our death bowlers in the last few seasons. It didn't go our way tonight. It didn't quite work out for us today, but I would still back him to do it again. I thought Rovman Powell and Jordan Cox put together a really good partnership, which took the game away from us.
We need to look ourselves in the mirror and got to remind ourselves that we are better than this. There is no point being too hard on ourselves, we have an entire tournament in front of us. We just need to tidy up in the few departments and have to be true to ourselves, and I'm sure we can turn things around.
My body is not too bad. I'm happy that the ball came out pretty well and I executed most of what I wanted to do. That's a positive for me personally, I'll just build up again and go deeper into the tournament."
Dispatch of the Day: Rovman Powell
Time for the post-match presentation...
Hemang Badani presents Waqar Salamkheil with the White Belt as he becomes the leading wicket-taker in this season with 7 wickets next to his name.
11:14 PM IST, 9:44 PM LOCAL TIME: A complete game for Dubai Capitals as they bash Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by a mammoth margin of 83 runs and open their winning account in the ongoing ILT20 season after starting the tournament with a couple of defeats!
The Knight Riders were never really in the game, barring the powerplay with the ball after winning the toss and deciding to bowl first. Toby Albert, Sediqullah Atal and Shayan Jahangir, the top order of the Capitals, were sent packing in just 6.1 overs, with the scoreboard reading 43 runs.
Rovman Powell and Jordan Cox then rebuilt with a record 4th wicket partnership of 119 runs for the Capitals. Both hit half-centuries. Cox scored 52 off 36 balls and fell in the penultimate over. Still, Powell stood tall till the end and also took the attack to his fellow Jamaican Andre Russell in the final over, smashing 24 off it and remaining unbeaten on 96 off 52 balls, with the Capitals posting 186/4 in 20 overs.
Jason Holder was superb on his full comeback as a captain with the ball for ADKR, as he finished with 2/30. Ajay Kumar and Piyush Chawla picked up a wicket each, while Sunil Narine and Russell went for plenty.
In reply, ADKR lost wickets at regular intervals and were bundled out for just 103 in 15.3 overs. David Willey struck twice in the first over, dismissing Alex Hales and Alishan Sharafu. Mustafizur Rahman then removed Unmukt Chand for a golden duck in the second over.
Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone tried to counter-attack, but couldn't convert their starts into a big one. The Fizz got rid of the former, while Mohammad Nabi deceived Livingstone, who also saw the two go after each other before Dasun Shanaka calmed the Lancashire all-rounder down.
ADKR never really recovered and lost their way despite a few big hitters remaining in the line-up. Andre Russell struck two maximums in as many balls before losing his wicket to Waqar Salamkheil. Sherfane Rutherford struggled during his entire stay, summing up the outing for the visitors.
For the Capitals, Salamkheil was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 4/29. Willey, Nabi and Mustafizur were brilliant and took a couple of wickets each to close out the game completely in the Dubai Capitals' favour. Stay tuned for the post-match ceremony!