ILT20: Jordon Cox, Shayan Jahangir steer Dubai Capitals into playoffs with victory in tense chase

Dubai Capitals and Sharjah Warriorz clashed in Match 27 of the ILT20 2025-26 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, December 24. With the competition for the playoffs heating up, the game held immense importance for both the teams. The home team won the toss and elected to field first.

The Warriorz openers began steadily with Monank Patel (24 off 13) scoring at a brisk pace. The partnership was promising to turn into a big one, but was cut short with a brilliant piece of fielding from David Willey who effected a direct hit to run out Patel. The wicket dented the momentum for the Warriorz who could not get a boost even later. The middle and lower orders failed to build innings as nearly all of them were dismissed for single-digit scores.

The Capitals bowlers bowled good line and lengths to put pressure on the batters with some help from the deck. It was only a late flourish from Adil Rashid (14* off 9) and Harmeet Singh (14 off 13) that ensured the Warriorz reached a competitive score of 134/8 in their 20 overs. For the Capitals, Haider Ali was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/13 from his four overs.

The Capitals responded with caution but suffered a setback in the form of Sediqullah Atal (7 off 14) in the fourth over with 17 runs on the board. Shayan Jahangir then combined with Jordan Cox to form a brilliant 76-run partnership off 63 balls. Jahangir (51 off 39) was dismissed soon after he reached his milestone as Sikandar Raza brought a breakthrough for the Warriorz.

Mohammad Nabi (4 off 4) and Leus De Plooy (5 off 6) could not contribute much as an easy-looking chase turned into a tense one. But Jordan Cox kept his cool as he smashed his way to a match-winning 61* off 50 balls with Rovman Powell (6* off 4) providing the support right at the end. The Capitals eventually crossed the line with six wickets in hand and five balls remaining. Raza was the standout bowler, with figures of 4-0-15-2.

The victory helped the Capitals to consolidate their position at number three on the points table while Warriorz remain at the bottom. Both teams have one more match to go with the chances to qualify for the playoffs still alive.