Gulbadin and Billing star as Capitals enter ILT20 final

Mohammad Abdullah, Senior Sports Reporter

Riding on Gulbadin's all-round performance, Dubai Capitals defeated Desert Vipers by five wickets in the first qualifier to book a berth in the final of the DP World ILT20 in Dubai.

An eventful last over was the highlight of the match. Needing 11 off the last over, Gulbadin took a couple off the first ball. On the next delivery, Rahmanullah Gurbaz failed to collect an inside edge and the ball raced to the boundary line, bringing the equation down to 5 needed off 4 balls.

Gulbadin was dropped on the next delivery and he survived a run out on the next. The Capitals needed one run off the last two balls. Dan Lawerence took a stunner to send back Gulbadin and force the match to go to the last ball.

Ferguson got injured and Amir had to bowl the last delivery. With a new batsman on the crease, Vipers were hoping for a tie but Raza made no mistake and dispatched the ball for boundary to take the Capitals past the target and into the final.

Chasing 189, Shai Hope and Adam Rossington gave a quick-fire start to the Capitals. They shared a 51-run partnership for the first wicket in just six overs. They seemed to be executing the game plan well as Hope, who is usually a hard-hitter, took the back seat and Rossington cut it loose from the beginning.

Hasaranga dismissed Hope to break the partnership before Lockie Ferguson rattled the stumps of Rossington to make it 67/2. Gulbadin Naib and Sam Billing started leading the charge.

After losing two wickets in quick succession, Capitals were pushed on the back foot briefly which choked the flow of runs. Billing flexed his muscles and took 15 runs off Amir in the 12th over before plundering another 20 runs in the next over off Hasaranga.

Billings hit Hasaranga for three boundaries and one six to keep the chase alive. He threw away his wicket while trying to steal the second run which never existed. He was found short of his crease as Sam Curran sent a perfect throw from the boundary rope.

The onus of taking the Capitals through came on the shoulders of Gulbadin. But he lived up to the challenge and added 47 runs for the fourth wicket in 34 balls to keep Capitals in the hunt.

Hasaranga broke the opening partnership by getting rid of Hope before Ferguson sent back Rossington, who smashed eight boundaries in his 31-ball 44 as Capitals raced to 51 in the powerplay.

Earlier, Hales wreaked havoc as he tore the Capitals bowling apart. He added 98 runs for the second wicket with Holden after Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dismissed cheaply by Farhan.

Hales, who has scored 353 in 11 innings in this season at an average of 39, continued to haunt the bowlers. He smacked a blitzkrieg 32-ball 67 not only to put the innings back on the track after Vipers lost the first wicket with just runs on the board but also set the tone for a huge total.

Hales and Holden kept the Capitals bowlers at bay. He made his intentions clear from the beginning. He collected 14 runs off McCoy in the second over to remove the pressure.

He changed the complexion of the game in just 18 balls. He plundered 46 runs in three overs. Vipers were 38/1 in fourth over and moved to 84/1 in the seventh over.

He milked Raza for 20 runs in the seventh over hitting him for three sixes. Hales sprinted to his third fifty with a six in just 25 deliveries. The Capitals bowlers were clueless as they needed to break the partnership to stop Vipers from posting a total which would be unachievable.

Finally, Gulbadin broke the partnership to bring some respite to the Capitals camp. Qais Ahmed got rid of Holden within a space of seven runs. The two quick wickets brought the Capitals back in the game and put a brake on the runs.

With the two new batsmen on the crease, Capitals had a chance to mount pressure and take one or two more wickets.

But they failed to capitalize on it and let the Vipers get away with it as Dan Lawerence and Sam Curran knuckled down to rebuild the innings and added 43 runs for the fourth wicket to lead the Viper's recovery.

Qais struck again to make it 150/4 by getting Sam caught by Gulbadin. After the dismissal of Sam, the Capitals started losing the wickets in quick succession.

McCoy sent back Shane Rutherford, Gulbadin picked up Wanindu Hasaranga for his second scalp of the day before and Dushmantha Chameera got rid of Lawrence as Vipers middle-order crumbled like a pack of cards to be reduced to 173/7 from 160/3.

A late blitz by Khuzaima Tanveer propelled Vipers to 189/7. He hit two fours and one six in his 5-ball 15 as Vipers posted a fighting total. Qais and Gulbadin were the pick of the bowlers as they took two wickets each, conceding 29 and 25 runs.