Tossed up just outside off, makes room and unfurls a gorgeous square drive that beats the fielder at cover and that's will do nicely for Dubai Capitals who have won by nine wickets! They have beaten the reigning champions in a canter
Giants vs DC, Qualifier 2 at Sharjah, ILT20, Feb 15 2024 - Ball by Ball Commentary
DC won by 9 wickets (with 25 balls remaining)
Right, that's all from us. Thanks for your company! We'll be back on Saturday for MI Emirates vs Dubai Capitals final. Cheers!
James Vince, Gulf Giants Captain: In hindsight, conditions got better when dew came in. I think if we got it right with the ball upfront, it was parish and below-par score and we got off to a poor start...was hard to get the momentum back. We still finished second on the table, I don't think we were able to replicate form and performances that we showed last year. Boys have put in a huge amount of effort and a lot to be proud of. We got great support from backroom staff, coaching staff and everyone.
Sam Billings, Dubai Capitals Captain: Clarity and sticking to basic cricket and coming with a formula (worked for us). Raza hitting that last ball and we would have been out of the tournament. That really galvanised us and people have stepped up. It's about going back to basics, having courage with the bowling unit to hold your length...if one of the top five gets 50-plus, the game unfolds before us and that has been a key metric for us. I can't do anything with the players if they don't have capability, drive and effort. Keeping wicket gives me more information on bowling changes and how it unfolds. It's all about making informed decisions. Anything can happen in final; we can be confident with our recent form. We won't take them for granted, we know they are world class (MI Emirates), but they should be respecting us. If we play our best cricket, we are tough to beat.
Leus du Plooy, Player of the Match: It was good fun out there, our bowlers bowled really well to give us a chase-able score, luckily I and Banton got off to a flier. Just try to stay as busy as possible, not face too many dots. Told myself if he bowls a good bowl, get to the other end. Just walking this into environment, lads get along well. I've thoroughly enjoyed it, great group of lads.
No drama there. Dubai Capitals romp to victory and have sent a loud and clear message to MI Emirates not to take them lightly at all. Leus du Plooy bossed the chase, scored a brilliant half-century and gave no chance to Giants for any kind of comeback. Capitals exploited the conditions smartly and their spinners stifled the run-flow effectively as Giants struggled to a subpar total. Without getting early wickets, it became an uphill task for them. Capitals' openers unleashed their onslaught in the powerplay, putting Giants on the backfoot early on. Sam Billings-led side assessed the conditions better and bowled wicket to wicket, which was the recipe for success on this slow and tricky track. Also, there wasn't much assistance late in the night for bowlers with the dew coming into play and conditions flattened out, adding more misery for the Giants
Nikan: "Defending champs being unceremoniously dethroned here"
Pravin Jadhav: "What a turnaround this is from DC! Well done"
looped up and drifting in at middle and leg, hangs back and mows it down to long-on for a run
Over the wicket, length on the pads, quicker delivery, worked off the pads to Hetmyer at midwicket for a run, one hit away from booking a berth in the final
Round the wicket, shorter on middle, pings an on-drive to long-on for a run
Lobbed up from over the wicket outside off, dances down and deflects it away in the deep pockets at deep midwicket
Length on the pads, eased to the leg side and tears across for a quick single, he wants the strike
Monster hit! You can't bowl him there. A juicy half-volley with plenty of width to work with, plants his front leg, jams his bat down and lustily tonks it waaayyyyyyyy over long-on for a humungous six!
Bashes a shortish ball in the corridor, runs it down to third man and pinches a run, within touching distance from a convincing win
Short around the line off and he pulled it away exquisitely through deep midwicket for a boundary, beats the man in the deep. That is a great shot
Larrups it in the air towards Jordan at mid-on
Fraction short and angling across middle, nurdled towards deep third and brings up an easy breezy fluent half-century on the big night!
Looped up on off stump, exposes his stumps and thwacks a cut but finds the fielder in the ring
Tossed up and drifting into middle, nudged off the pads square of midwicket
Too much flight and he scolds him with a straight six into the sightscreen! Springs down the track and unleashes a muscular hit, that is a proper wallop!
Gives himself some room by backing away and then punches it firmly to extra cover
Looped up and angling across middle, tapped down gently along the floor towards long-off and ambles across to the other end
Round the wicket, tossed up on middle, on-drive to wide long-on
Kerplunk! Round the wicket, gives him a charge and pummels it past mid-off for another boundary, lovely use of the feet and easy on the eyes.
gets down low to it and eases it with the angled face to third man for a run
Lofted over mid-on and it has got enough legs to hug the boundary rope! That was a touch-full on middle and he hits it cleanly through the line, freebie
Over 16 • DC 139/1
DC won by 9 wickets (with 25 balls remaining)