DUBAI: Pathum Nissanka struck a second successive half-century as Gulf Giants claimed a four-wicket victory over Dubai Capitals in the DP World ILT20 on Saturday, moving to the top of the points table with their second consecutive win.
Nissanka blasted 67 off 31 balls, hitting six fours and five sixes, as he combined with captain James Vince for a match-winning partnership of 97 runs in 60 deliveries while chasing a target of 161. Vince played the anchoring role, finishing unbeaten on 50 from 45 balls as the Giants completed the chase in 18.5 overs.
Earlier, Azmatullah Omarzai led the bowling effort with figures of 3 for 46 to restrict the Capitals to 160 for 7. While several Capitals batters made starts, captain Dasun Shanaka provided late impetus with 23 not out from nine balls, including two successive sixes in a 19-run final over.
The Giants’ run chase gathered momentum despite the early loss of Rahmanullah Gurbaz for nine. Nissanka launched the assault in the powerplay, targeting James Neesham in the fourth over with three sixes and a boundary as the Giants raced to 60 for 1 after six overs. He brought up a 23-ball half-century before falling in the 12th over to Mustafizur Rahman, who claimed his second wicket of the match.
A brief wobble followed as Moeen Ali was dismissed soon after, leaving the Giants at 112 for 3, but Omarzai (14 off 12) and Tom Moores (13 off 8) made valuable contributions to support Vince, who saw the chase through to the end.
In the Capitals innings, Omarzai struck early to dismiss Shayan Jahangir before Sediqullah Atal and David Willey added 61 runs for the second wicket. Atal top-scored with 35 from 25 balls before falling to Ali, while the Capitals slowed considerably through the middle overs, managing just 18 runs between the 10th and 14th overs.
Jordan Cox and James Neesham revived the innings with a brisk 41-run partnership, but Omarzai returned in the death overs to remove Cox and Rovman Powell, finishing as the leading wicket-taker and moving into the lead for the White Belt.
“The fact that we got the points, and we feel we can play better is a good thing. We squeezed them with the ball in the middle overs,” Gulf Giants captain Ali said.
“Nissanka is a brilliant player and one of the top players in every format. Vince is also a quality player. He just did the job and played the situation well,” he added.
Reflecting on the defeat, Dubai Capitals captain Shanaka said Nissanka was in the form of his life.
“He’s amazing because he is so small, and yet he hits the ball so far. He’s going to give trouble to a lot of teams in this tournament. We could have shown a little more intent with the bat in that middle period,” he said.
“We didn’t try to find the gaps; rather than waiting to hit the long ball, we needed to rotate the strike. Rovman Powell and I probably could have gone a bit earlier, and we might get this right in the next game.”
