LONDON: The Dubai Capitals edged out the Desert Vipers in a tightly-contested thriller in the International League T20 on Thursday night.
The Vipers bowling attack, led by star man Shaheen Afridi who took two wickets for 47 runs, was unable to help defend a total of 169 for 6.
Rohan Mustafa opened well for the Vipers, scoring a half-century from 33 balls. Fellow opener Alex Hales just missed out on matching that feat, falling to the bowling of Jason Holder while on 49 runs off 32 balls.
In reply, a man-of-the-match performance from Ben Dunk got the Capitals over the line as the Australian left-hander blasted his way to 59 from just 30 deliveries.
Fellow Aussie, and Capitals captain, David Warner had another torrid outing with the bat, managing only four runs from 10 balls before being dismissed by an Afridi delivery and a Colin Munro catch.
The defeat sent the Vipers to the bottom of the ILT20 table, having secured only two wins from six matches. The Capitals moved into second place on six points, ahead of the Sharjah Warriors on net-run-rate difference.
“Hopefully we will keep this momentum moving forward,” Dunk said. “I wasn’t nervous at the start but got a bit sweaty and nervous when it went down to two (runs needed) from two (balls). Their guy bowled a hell of a last over, in all fairness.
“David (Warner) hasn’t scored the runs but he is a great influence, and having Jason (Holder) and Rovman Powell down there in the order, they get the job done.”
Warner admitted he has been struggling of late but said he has faith in the dressing-room spirit of the team to help them rack up victories.
“A really important win,” he said of the outcome on Thursday. “We wanted to bowl first and the belief in our changing room about chasing suits us. We were calm and composed and the guys got the job done.
“I’m pretty calm and relaxed out there (but) I still haven’t found my rhythm. I’m not worried about myself.”
Vipers captain Munro said he felt his side were performing well but just missing a bit of luck.
“Credit goes to them (the Capitals),” he said. “I think they bowled really well up front, they used the conditions better than us tonight.
“It was such a small margin in this game. Everyone is putting the effort in training. When we won it last year, everything went our way; right now some things are going against us.”
