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Brandon Moyo, [email protected]

AFTER winning their opening game of their 2024 International League T20 (ILT20) campaign, Sikandar Raza’s Dubai Capitals followed it up with a five-wicket defeat at the hands of Sharjah Warriors at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday evening.

Raza had a handy knock with the bat, but, they could not cross the finish line to make it two out of two and make it a dream start to the season. Sharjah Warriors have the services of another Chevrons all-rounder, Sean Williams.

However, the veteran Williams did not feature in that game.

After they were sent in to bat first, Raza’s Dubai Capitals were restricted to 170/7 in 20 overs before the eventual winners, Sharjah Warriors chased down the target with seven balls remaining in the match, finishing on 171/5 in 18,5 overs.

Raza was Dubai Capitals’ second leading run scorer, falling two runs short of his half century and had a good economy with ball in hand, a feat that saw him named ENCALM Coolest Player of the Match for the second game running.

Coming in to bat at number five, the Chevrons stalwart fell for a well-played 48 runs off just 23 balls with their top scorer being Sam Billings with 52 runs from 31 deliveries while the skipper, David Warner fell for 20 runs after facing 27 balls. Daniel Sams, who also took the wicket of Raza, starred with the ball for Sharjah Warriors, finishing with figures of 3/28 in his four overs while Chris Woakes and Maheesh Theekshana took two scalps apiece for 21 and 32 runs respectively.

In the match’s second innings, Raza did not take any wickets in his four overs but was going at 7, 25 runs per over, the second least in his team’s bowling innings. It was Dushmantha Chameera who took all the wickets for Dubai Capitals, finishing with figures of 4/28 in four overs. Raza had figures of 0/29 in his spell.

Sharjah Warriors’ opening batter, Johnson Charles who led the charge with the bat as he top scored with 93 runs off just 51 balls to help his team win their first game after they had opened their account with a defeat.

The next match for Raza and his Dubai Capitals will be against Abu Dhabi Knight Riders tomorrow. In his first two matches, Raza has scored 48 runs (one inning; did not bat in the first match) and has taken three scalps with best figures of 3/21.

The ILT20 is a professional cricket league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The league was founded in 2022 and is sanctioned by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB). 

The inaugural season of the ILT20 took place from January 13 to February 12, 2023, with six teams competing. The teams were Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Dubai Capitals, Desert Vipers, Gulf Giants, Mumbai Indians Emirates and Sharjah Warriors. 

The ILT20 is played in a double round-robin format, with each team playing each other twice. The top four teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the play-offs. 

The play-offs consist of a semi-final, a third-place contest and a final.

The first ILT20 season was won by Gulf Giants who defeated Desert Vipers in the final. – @brandon_malvin