Charles lights up Dubai stadium as Warriorz rout Capitals

Mohammad Abdullah, Senior Sports Reporter

Johnson Charles smacked a whirlwind 71 as Sharjah Warriorz trounced a hapless Dubai Capitals by nine wickets in an ILT20 match to keep their playoff hopes alive in Dubai on Tuesday.

Charles tore apart the Capitals’ attack and shared a 123-run partnership for the first wicket with Tom Kohler-Cadmore as the Warriorz chased down a paltry target of 132 in just 11.5 overs for the loss of one wicket only.

Chasing, the Warriorz were off to a decent start and nicely cruising along before Charles started cutting loose in the fifth over. Charles shifted his gears and changed the complexion of the game in one over. He stole 28 runs off Zaheer Khan in the fifth over to tilt the match in Warriroz’s favour completely.

He showed great improvisation and played three reverse-sweep shots to collect 16 runs off the first four deliveries before capping the over with a straight six over the bowler’s head as the Warriroz sprinted to 67/0 from 39/0 in just six deliveries.

One big over pushed the Capitals virtually out of the game. With a small total on the board to defend, their hopes of an unlikely victory all but ended. To add to the Capitals’ woes, Charles’ carnage did not stop there.

He milked another 14 runs in the eighth over bowled by Zaheer. He raced to his fifty with a six in just 21 deliveries, making it the third fastest fifty in the history of the tournament.

Capitals were clueless as there was no respite for their bowlers. Charles plundered another 19 runs in the 10th over off the bowling of Haider Ali to bring the equation down to nine runs needed off 10 overs with ten wickets in hand. His innings was studded with eight sixes and three fours.

Sikander Raza saved the Capitals blushes by getting rid of Charles before Kohler Cadmore, who also smashed a 32-ball 54, completed the formalities.

Earlier, Adam Rossington and Hope gave a blistering start to the Capitals as they shared a 60-run stand for the first wicket to set the platform for a big total.

Warriorz elected to field first after winning the toss to avoid the jitters of the dew factor while bowling at night. But their decision seemed to have fired back as the Capitals openers dominated the proceedings.

It was Rossington who flexed his muscles first. He made his intentions clear by taking 14 runs off Southee in the first over. The game plan of the Capitals was clear – score as many runs as possible in the powerplay and make it easier for the others to post a huge total.

With three playoff berths remaining and five teams fighting for it, the race for qualification has heated up. The Capitals looked in a hurry and did not want to leave anything to chance. Rossington carried on the momentum and took another 13 runs in the third over off Madhushanka.

Hope also changed his gears in the sixth over and plundered 16 runs off it as the Capitals reached 55 for no loss at the end of the powerplay. Warriorz’s bowlers were fretting as they needed to break the partnership to stop a rampaging Capitals.

Warriorz were at the bottom of the table with just four points. They were two points adrift of the fifth-placed team, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. Every match is a must-win game for them to remain in the hunt for a playoff berth.

Zampa gave Warriroz the much-needed breakthrough by breaking the dangerous-looking partnership. He had Rossington, who smashed a quick-fire 23-ball 37, caught by Southee.

The dismissal of Rossington broke open the floodgates for the Warriorz’s bowlers as Capitals batsmen failed to capitalize on the opening partnership and kept on losing the wickets at regular intervals.

In his next over, Zampa got rid of Gulbadin Naib as the Capitals lost the second wicket within a space of four runs. The two wickets in quick succession filled the Warriorz’s bowlers with renewed synergy.

Hope added 20 with Sikandar Raza for the third wicket to bring some stability to the faltering innings and took the score to 84/2. Capitals looked set on a recovery path, but they lost three wickets within a span of two runs to be reduced to 86/5 from 84/2.

Agar sent back Raza, and Najibullah Zadran was found short of ground while trying to steal a cheeky single, which never existed. Rohan Mustafa of the UAE also took advantage of the situation and removed Khalid Shah for naught.

Capitals were losing wickets in bulks, and they needed someone to play a sheet-anchor role. But their batsmen looked in a hurry and played reckless shots to throw away their wickets.

A determined Rovman Powell played a gritty knock to lead the fightback as wickets kept on tumbling on the other end. Powell hit a 16-ball 32 to rescue the Capitals.

Meanwhile, Rohan picked up the wicket of Dasun Shanaka, Milne rattled the stumps of Dushmantha Chameera, and Haider Ali failed to make ground while scrambling for a run as the Capitals notched up 131/9.