Dubai Capitals secure 5-wicket win over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 

Dubai Capitals' Sam Billings and Sikandar Raza produced a clinical run chase to register a five-wicket win over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the eighth match of the DP World ILT20 season 2 in Dubai.

Capitals, who had lost their last match to Sharjah Warriors, won the toss and elected to bowl.

Chasing Knight Riders’ impressive total of 183 for 4 in 20 overs, Capitals were faced with the challenge of having to score at a run rate of 9.15.

Billings and Raza took the score past the 100-run mark in 8.2 overs to win the match with 23 balls to spare. The pair put on a 109 runs partnership off 59 balls for the fourth wicket.

Capitals skipper David Warner hailed his boys, stating: “The boys stayed calm. With two set batters, we stuck to our plans and it made things better. My first message to the team was to be brave, express yourself and execute your skills. Have a clear mind and then you win the game comprehensively, like today.”

Knight Riders skipper Sunil Narine said bowling with the dew was tough. “I think we batted well, it was a good total. Picking up early wickets would have been good for us bowling second. Their batters stuck to their plan, and not losing wickets helped them. Bowling second with the dew makes it difficult for spinners. However, we need to execute better.”

Player of the Match, Sam Billings, said he only maintained the momentum. “I think it is a lot easier when you are ahead of the game, thanks to Fraser-McGurk and Gurbaz. We just had to continue that momentum. Although the toss does play a factor, we played really well. Raza and I were running hard between the wickets, and the lack of dot balls puts pressure on the bowlers.”

Scores:

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 183 for 4 in 20 overs (Sam Hain 77, Laurie Evans 67, Dushmantha Chameera 2 for 35)
Dubai Capitals 185 for 5 in 16.1 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 21, Jake Fraser-McGurk 41, Sam Billings 67, Sikandar Raza 43, David Willey 2 for 44, Sunil Narine 2 for 23).