DP World ILT20 2025, Match 16 Review: Shanaka blitz headlines Dubai Capitals' win against Gulf Giants

A late blitzkrieg by Dasun Shanaka was instrumental in helping the Dubai Capitals register a comprehensive win against the Gulf Giants, at the Dubai International Stadium, on Thursday evening in the DP World ILT20 2025. The Dubai Capitals won by five wickets and eight deliveries to spare as Shanaka threw the kitchen sink at the Gulf Giants, to seal an important win. 

Asked to bat first, the Gulf Giants’ skipper James Vince looked to attack from the get-go. At the other end though, Obed McCoy gave the Dubai Capitals their first wicket, as he dismissed Ibrahim Zadran for three. Vince, who hit four boundaries in his 24, was joined by Jordan Cox and kept the scoreboard moving for the Gulf Giants.

Hetmyer and Cox were looking to score quickly, but the Dubai Capitals’ bowling kept them firmly in check. In the final over of the innings, Cox was run-out for a well-made 70, which helped the Gulf Giants post a competitive 153/5 in 20 overs. Hetmyer remained unbeaten on 17.

In response, Ben Dunk and Shai Hope started off steadily, and were looking to set up the platform for the chase for the Dubai Capitals. Dunk though could not bat long and fell for 10, and Khalid Shah added 10 more to the cause, both falling as they looked to go long, which gave the Gulf Giants the advantage, momentarily.

Shanaka continued his attack on the Gulf Giants bowling right through and finished off the contest two sixes, a boundary and a single in the 19th over. Shanaka finished unbeaten on 34 off 10 deliveries while Raza had 26 from 15.

Player of the match Shai Hope said, “I am just trying to grow and for that I have got to adapt quickly and improve my game. And I got to continue doing it. I want to improve every time I get on to the field.”

Expressing his thoughts about the game, Shanaka said: "First of all, really happy about the way I contributed towards the win. [I knew I] myself only had to put the icing on the cake."

Asked how he felt watching Cox's onslaught, Shanaka stated: "Of course, whenever he plays, I enjoy because I love the way he approaches the game. And, today he showed his maturity and class. So that is what is important. And I think this league has given him a chance to prove that he is amongst the runs. Hopefully, he will be in the England camp soon."

On his performance with the bat: "I was really betting well in the nature in recent past. And I work hard back home. So, coming here in the practice game, also I showed my skills and that shot over extra power, so I enjoyed it a lot. Wonderful, very important week for the team, all the very best."

Jordan Cox, speaking on how the wicket played, said: "I think it was a tricky wicket. I don't think it was easy [to bat]. 150 was a good score. That's what we had aimed for at the half time when we had a meeting. It was about 150. We thought it was going to be a pretty good score if we bowl well. I think we were pretty much leading the game, and then those last four-five hours, Dasun came in and absolutely smashed it. That's probably some of the best hitting I've seen, coming straight in doing that. That's world class."

He added: "I felt like the wicket wasn't something that allowed you to hit boundaries very easily. So, we spoke about in the meeting that it might be scrapping our way. So hitting the pockets, running hard for twos bad balls, putting them away for boundaries. So, I feel like we run really hard and we've put a decent total on the board. 

Speaking on DP World ILT20's growth as a league: "Yeah, it's a great competition. You know, to have nine overseas and teams, you know, you always can have pretty quality teams. And probably, the only problem for us is, we're not winning. So hopefully we turn that around pretty quick."

On the team's qualification chances: "Yeah, definitely we've got to win four out five. You know get five wins you qualify so we need to win four out, five. And that's what the boys are trying to do today."