ILT20: Dubai Capitals overwhelm Gulf Giants by nine wickets for final showdown with MI Emirates

Sharjah [UAE], February 16 : Through a spirited performance, Dubai Capitals recorded a stunning nine-wicket victory over reigning champions Gulf Giants in Qualifier 2 of the ILT20 season 2 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Showing no signs of being beaten by the Giants twice in the league stage, and booking the last slot in the play-off table, the Capitals excelled in all departments of the game. After restricting the Giants to a paltry 138 for 6, the Capitals won the match with 25 balls to spare.
Giants skipper James Vince had carried his team's innings on his shoulder through a knock of 58 runs off 53 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. After a 25-run opening partnership with Usman Khan (21), Vince lifted his team from a disastrous 62 for 5 through a 55-run partnership in 46 deliveries with Chris Jodan (30*) for the sixth wicket. Unfortunately, all his efforts went in vain.
Chasing the moderate target, Capitals openers Leus du Plooy and Tom Banton gave a stupendous start putting on a 98-run partnership. Du Plooy was severe on strike bowler Jordan hitting him for a six and two boundaries to take 16 runs off his first over. The opening partnership in 11.1 overs ended when Banton was caught by Overton at long-on off Liam Dawson for a run-a-ball 38 runs.
Du Plooy reached his half-century in 35 balls and remained unbeaten on 63 off 40 balls with five boundaries and three sixes, and along with Tom Abell (20*), they steered their team into the final to be held on February 17 (Saturday) at the Dubai International Stadium.
Earlier, the Giants had won the toss and elected to bat against the Capitals who were on a three-match winning run. Usman Khan, who opened the innings, with his skipper Vince, started with a boundary off Scott Kuggeleijn past cover-point and a six over long-off into the press box. They gathered 25 runs in three overs before Khan, on 21, attempted a leg-side shot and top-edged Jason Holder, resulting in wicketkeeper Sam Billings taking an easy catch.
One-drop Chris Lynn followed with a duck, clean bowled by a delivery that kept low from Haider Ali. Next, Jordan Cox departed quickly, run out for 2, while Jamie Smith got caught by Olly Stone at mid-off off Sikandar Raza for a duck. The responsibility of lifting the Giants out of trouble now fell on Shimron Hetmyer and Vince, with the Giants reeling at 40 for 4 in 7.4 overs. They, however, added only 22 runs together before Hetmyer, attempting to turn Kuggeleijn to leg, got a top edge and was caught by Raza at cover for 8.
With half the side back in the dugout for 62 in 10.4 overs, Chris Jordan joined Vince, who scored his half-century in 47 balls. The pair put on 55 runs before Vince's knock of 58 came to an end when he lifted Stone's delivery into the hands of Rovman Powell at long-on. This ended Giants' hopes of crossing the 150-run mark as well. Jordan remained unbeaten with a run-a-ball 30.
Sam Billings, skipper of Dubai Capitals, talked about his team's brilliant show: "A combination of factors helped us. Clarity and sticking to real basic cricket, especially on these kinds of wickets. We stuck to a formula. If not for (Sikandar) Raza hitting that last ball, we would have been out of the tournament. That really galvanised us and people stepped up. Anything can happen in the finals. But we are we confident with our recent form. We won't take it lightly as they are a great side, but if we play our best cricket, we will be very tough to beat."

Player of the Match Leus Du Plooy, talking about his knock, said: "It was good fun out there. Our bowlers bowled really well to give us a chaseable target. Then Banton and I got off to a good start. I tried to stay as busy as possible and not face too many dots."
Losing captain Vince explained his team's defeat saying: "In hindsight, conditions got a little better when the dew came on. They won both powerplays, we lost wickets and we had to rein ourselves back in to get some runs in the back end. 140 was parish and below-par; we got off to a poor start and from there on it was hard to wrestle the momentum back. We still finished second on the table. Unfortunately, we couldn't replicate our performances from last year. We were slightly off our game, the other sides were good, and we were outplayed on a couple of nights. The boys have put in a huge amount of effort and we have a lot to be proud of."
Brief scores: Gulf Giants 138/6 in 20 overs (James Vince 58, Usman Khan 21, Chris Jordan 30*) vs Dubai Capitals 139/1 in 15.5 overs (Leus du Plooy 63*, Tom Banton 38, Tom Abell 20*)
Player of the match: Leus du Plooy.