Shayan Jahangir stoke the show and played a blinder under pressure as his 99 went a long way in helping Dubai Capitals reach 196/5 in 20 overs. Shayan Jahangir walked in at 3 and played a great knock when the team needed it the most. Other players played around him with Jordan Cox, Rovman Powell and Dasun Shanaka playing important contributions to take the score to 196/5 in 20 overs.
In the second innings, Waqar Salamkheil picked up 3 wickets at a crucial time while others chipped in as Dubai Capitals held off a late assault from Andre Russell and captain Jason Holder who almost pulled it off with Russell staying till the end to almost pull off a heist. But it was not enough as the Capitals got home by 9 runs and moved to 3rd in the table while Abu Dhabi stayed in 5th place.
Shayan Jahangir’s brilliant 99 helps Dubai Capitals post 196/5.Â
Put into bat first, Toby Albert and Leus du Plooy opened the batting for Dubai Capitals while Jason Holder the captain had ball in hand for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. The Capitals got off to a shaky start as du Plooy was the first one to go for 2 off 6 balls to Ajay Kumar. Shayan Jahangir walked in the second over with the score reading 4/1. Tony Albert went back to the hut next over as he fell to Jason Holder for 2 off 3 balls as the Capitals were off to a shaky start at 4/2 in 2.1 overs. Jordan Cox came out to bat next.
Jahangir and Cox had to build up a partnership and they did so with Jahangir playing the role of aggressor and Cox happy to play second fiddle and anchor the innings. They played through the rest of the powerplay first taking the score to 32/2 in 6 overs. Then they carried it on in the middle phase of the innings as well as Jahangir showed his range while Cox was rotating the strike and giving the set batter more of the strike.
They complimented each other well and built a partnership to lay the platform for the big hitters to follow. The Knight Riders bowlers were not spared at all. The duo put on a century run stand and exactly added 115 runs off 68 balls with Cox contributing only 29 of them as Jahangir showed his dominance scoring 74 off 38 balls in the partnership. The partnership was finally broken by Jason Holder who dismissed Cox for 29 off 30 balls with 2 fours to his name. Rovman Powell came out to bat next in the 14th over.
Jahangir and Powell built up another follow-up stand as they drove home the advantage that Capitals got off the previous partnership. Both the players were aggressive with Powell flexing his muscles while Jahangir showed his class. They added a half-century stand in double quick time and added 66 runs off 35 balls in which Powell was the aggressor with 38 off 24 balls and Jahangir added 22 in 11 balls.
But with Jahangir on 99, he was cleaned up by Andre Russell as he fell one run short of his deserved ton. But still it was a match defining knock of 99 off 54 balls with 10 fours and 5 sixes to his name. Dasun Shanaka came out to bat in the final over and scored a quick cameo off 10 off 4 balls with 2 fours to his name before Shanaka fell off the last ball of the innings to Russell. Powell was unbeaten on 38 off 24 balls with one four and four sixes to his name as the Capitals finished with 196/5 in 20 overs. 16 extras were given by the fielding side.
Jason Holder was the pick of the bowlers for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders with figures of 2/22 in 4 overs. Andre Russell finished with 2/32 in 3 overs. Ajay Kumar finished with 1/28 in 4 overs. Ibrar Ahmad Shah finished with 0/44 in 3 overs. Sunil Narine finished with 0/38 in 4 overs. Liam Livingstone bowled an over for 12 runs. George Garton bowled an over for 18 runs. It meant Abu Dhabi Knight Riders needed 197 runs to win the match off 20 overs.
Waqar Salamkheil’s 3-wicket haul helps Dubai Capitals hold off late assault from Andre Russell.Â
Philip Salt and Alex Hales came out to open the innings for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders while David Willey had ball in hand for Dubai Capitals. The Knight Riders openers got off to a better start than Capitals as they were quickly off the blocks. They added 25 runs inside 3 overs before Hales was the first one to depart for 11 off 7 balls with 2 fours to his name to David Willey. Sherfane Rutherford came out to bat at 3. Rutherford and Salt added 11 more to the score before Rutherford fell for 7 off 6 balls with one four to his name to David Willey.
Liam Livingstone came out to bat next. Livingstone and Salt added 10 more runs to the tally before Livingstone was run out for 7 off 5 balls with one four to his name. Brandon McMullen came out to bat next. The powerplay score at the end of 6 overs were 49/3. Salt and McMullen built another important stand to stabilise the innings. The duo played through the initial phase of the middle overs and added 27 runs for the 4th wicket before the set batter Salt fell for 33 off 29 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to leave the Knight Riders at 73/4 in 9.1 overs.
Impact Player Alishan Sharafu came out to bat next. Sharafu made instant impact as he was quickly off the blocks while McMullen played second fiddle. The duo added 23 runs before McMullen fell for 18 off 15 balls with one four to his name to Salamkheil with the score at 96/5 in 11.5 overs. Sunil Narine came out to bat next and did not last long as he got knocked over for 1 off 2 balls by Mohammad Nabi. Andre Russell came out to bat next.
Russell was quick off the blocks as Sharafu looked good as well. But the Impact player could not carry it for long as he fell for 26 off 14 balls with 3 sixes to his name to Salamkheil. Captain Jason Holder came out to bat next to join Russell in the middle with the Knight Riders struggling at 111/7 in 14.3 overs. The Knight Riders had a tall task in hand when these duo got together and then started the rearguard action.
They came in the end overs with plenty to get and put on a show. Russell was fantastic while Holder complimented him really well. Russell was the senior partner but Holder was putting on a useful knock. The duo added a quick 46 runs off 20 balls with Holder being the aggressor. But Holder fell for 22 off 9 balls with 3 sixes to his name as Mustafizur Rahman picked up his wicket.
George Garton came out to bat next with the score 157/8 in 17.5 overs chasing 197. So, they still needed 40 runs off 13 balls with one wicket in hand. From hereon, till the end of the match, it was the Andre Russell show as Garton was a mere spectator as he was unbeaten on 1 off 2 balls. Russell put on a show with big hits and boundaries and was helped by the bowlers who bowled no balls. The last over saw no balls 4s and sixes being hit. But the bowler Jawadullah held his nerve against Russell with two dot balls to seal the win for Capitals. 26 was needed off the last over.
Russell finished unbeaten on 53 off 33 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name as the Knight Riders finished with 187/8 in 20 overs falling 9 runs short. 8 extras given by the fielding side. Waqar Salamkheil was the pick of the bowlers for Capitals with 3/34 in 4 overs. David Willey chipped in with 2/37 in 4 overs. Mustafizur Rahman finished with 1/47 in 4 overs. Mohammad Nabi the Impact Player finished with 1/15 in 3 overs. Haider Ali finished with 0/18 in 2 overs. Dasun Shanaka bowled 2 overs for 20 runs. Muhammad Jawadullah finished with 0/16 in 1 over.
So, Dubai Capitals win by 9 runs to climb to 3rd in the points table. Shayan Jahangir was awarded the Player of the Match. Dubai Capitals climbed upwards to 3rd in the table while Abu Dhabi Knight Riders stayed in 5th place.
What Lies Ahead.Â
We have got a double header coming our way on Super Sunday as it is double the action double the fun today. First-up it’s MI Emirates up against Sharjah Warriorz from Abu Dhabi live at 3:30 PM IST on 14th December, 2025. This will be followed by Desert Vipers up against Dubai Capitals live from Dubai at 8:00 PM IST. So, plenty of action coming our way from ILT20 2025 this Sunday.
Also Read:Â ILT20 2025: Desert Vipers Make It 5 Wins In 5 Games With Impressive Win