Powell powers Dubai Capitals to win over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
A Delhi Powers' bowler celebrates after takcing a wicket against Abu Dhabi Knight Riders during their DP World International League T20 match on Friday. Courtesy: Dubai Capitals Twitter
Rovman Powell’s all-round performance helped Dubai Capitals defeated Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by 73 runs in the opening match of the DP World ILT20 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Capitals skipper Powell top scored with 48 while Robin Uthappa hit 43 as Capitals posted 187-6 from their allotted 20 overs. Powell’s knock came off just 29 balls and included three fours and as many sixes while Uthappa’s innings lasted 33 deliveries with three fours and one less six.
Joe Root and Sikandar Raza also both chipped in with 26, respectively, against two wickets apiece from Ravi Rampaul (2-36 from four overs) and Ali khan (2-45 from three overs).
Captain Sunil Narine and Andre Russell were the other wicket-takers. Powell also produced the goods with the ball with 2-15 from two overs as the Knight Riders were reduced to just 114-9 off their 20 overs Mujeeb Ur Rahman was also excellent with the ball conceding just 16 runs in four overs to go along with his two wickets.
Paul Stirling was the only Knight Riders batsman to produce any resistance with a 38-ball 54 including five fours and two sixes. Shah Rukh Khan graces opening ceremony of ILT20: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan attended the opening ceremony of ILT20.
The Pathaan actor, who is also the co-owner of Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, reached the location in an all-black outfit and was seen smiling and waving at fans. In the videos doing rounds on the internet, Shah Rukh can be seen saying a dialogue from Pathaan at the opening ceremony.
The crowd can be heard screaming and cheering for the actor when he says, “Party pathaan ke ghar rakhoge toh mehmaannawazi ke liye Pathaan toh aayega, aur saath mai pataake bhi layega.”
Pathaan director Siddharth Anand also accompanied Shah Rukh.
Denly looking at Sharjah Warriors stint as a springboard for England return: With the proliferation of T20 leagues players are looking forward to these events as opportunities for making it to their respective national teams. England’s Joe Denly is one such player who is looking at his stint at the Sharjah Warriors in the inaugural International League Twenty20 (ILT20) as a stepping stone to another spectacular chapter in an international career pockmarked by a long absence.
The highly effective yet often underrated all-rounder may be turning 37 this March but he is not ready yet to give up on an England call-up as he prepares to reinvent himself as a pinch-hitter in the game’s shortest format to fit into the Sharjah team’s needs under compatriots, coach Paul Farbrace and captain Moeen Ali. Denly is hoping this despite having played most of his cricket in an England shirt as a top-order batsman.
“I can also play in the middle if the team needs it even though I have almost always batted in the top three,” Denly said on the sidelines of a visit to The Indian International School in Dubai Silicon Oasis with his Sharjah Warriors team-mate Alishan Sharafu ahead of their opening match.
“It is important to train with a purpose and to match that scenario with the team. I am trying to train to bat in the middle order, especially at number six, trying to develop my game and hit more boundaries.”
Denly last played for England in a T20I in September 2020 before eventually enduring an absence that has now lasted a little over two years. Before that he went missing from the England setup for eight years before engineering a remarkable renaissance in 2018 by winning a recall to England’s Test tour of Sri Lanka in 2018 on the back of a PCA Players’ Player of the Year award and topping the Most Valuable Player rankings.
