Cox, Jahangir help Capitals seal playoffs berth

Fifties by Jordan Cox (61*) and Shayan Jahangir (51) guided the Dubai Capitals to the ILT20 playoffs after beating Sharjah Warriorz in a low-scoring game. Three teams have now booked their place in the ILT20 knockouts, with Gulf Giants, Sharjah Warriorz and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders now vying for the final spot.

Sent in to bat, Warriorz had a fruitful start to the PowerPlay with openers Johnson Charles and Monank Patel capitalizing on the new ball. Patel was run-out for 24 after a direct-hit by David Willey. Capitals introduced spin in the fifth over on a slow track, and the runs dried up. Haider Ali bowled Tom Abell and had Tom Kohler-Cadmore stumped in his next over, finishing with 4-0-13-2.

Amid the carnage, Charles kept the scoreboard ticking before smashing Mohammad Nabi for a six and a four. However, wickets continued to fall. Sikandar Raza offered a simple return catch to Mustafizur Rahman, and the set batter Charles holed out to long-on off Waqar Salamkheil. Salamkheil also bowled Ethan D'Souza in the same over, while James Rew drove straight to short cover. Harmeet Singh and Adil Rashid found boundaries in the last two overs to lift Warriorz to 134 for 8.

Warriorz opened with spin through Raza and brought on Harmeet Singh in the third over, who struck to remove Sediqullah Atal. Their pacers mixed slower balls effectively, restricting the batters. Harmeet nearly had Cox and Jahangir in his second over, with Cox almost chipping to cover and Jahangir dropped at long-off by Tom Kohler-Cadmore.

With runs hard to come by against spin, Cox hit Wasim Akram over long-off for six. Jahangir then capitalised on the pace bowlers, hitting three fours off Taskin Ahmed in the 11th over. A six off Tim Southee followed before he brought up his fifty.

Against the run of play, Raza dismissed Jahangir and Nabi in the same over to bring Warriorz back into the contest. Needing 38 off the last five overs, it became 26 off 18 after Leus du Plooy chopped on off Taskin, but Cox found a crucial boundary in that over.

With 21 required off the last two overs, Cox hit four consecutive boundaries off Southee in an 18-run 19th over before Rovman Powell sealed the win with a six.

Brief Scores: Sharjah Warriorz 134/8 in 20 overs (Johnson Charles 43, Monank Patel 24; Haider Ali 2-13, Waqar Salamkheil 2-29) lost to Dubai Capitals 138/4 in 19.1 overs (Jordan Cox 61*, Shayan Jahangir 51; Sikandar Raza 2-15) by six wickets.