We have a double header in the International League T20 competition on Saturday and the first ILT20 match of the day sees two sides who have made slow starts to the season meeting when the Dubai Capitals take on the Sharjah Warriors in Dubai.
These two teams have played six matches between them and have just one win overall. That belongs to the Capitals so they will be on terms with the top four with a win here. Sharjah really need a win to get their season up and running.
Dubai Capitals
The Dubai Capitals looked like they were going to be one of the teams to beat when they won their opening match against the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. Things haven’t progressed like that though and they arrive into this match off the back of successive defeats, although they were both to the Gulf Giants who look like one of the better teams in the competition so far. I don’t think they are bad losses and they have the chance to show that here.
The one thing which will disappoint the Capitals against the Giants is that the Gulf outfit don’t really have what you would call fearsome recognised hitters of the ball so to have conceded more than 180 to them in both meetings shouldn’t go down well. Their batting has gone well with the exception of the last match where they just couldn’t get going at all. This feels like a chance for a complete performance from the Dubai side.
Sharjah Warriors
I thought the Sharjah Warriors might have been one of the dark horses in this tournament before a ball was hit but they have been very disappointing indeed. They have played three matches and lost all three and you would struggle to argue that they have been competitive in any of them. Two of those defeats have been to the MI Emirates side who might prove to be a good team and the other was to the Desert Vipers who are a good side.
This feels like an easier assignment for the Warriors but it is one they really have to win. If they lose their opening four matches they are really up against it when it comes to qualifying for the latter stages of the event, especially when you consider they will be losing players to international duty in the next week. If they are going to win this then their top batters have to stand up and be counted because they are not giving their bowlers a chance at present.
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Key Players
Robin Uthappa was out very early in the last game and the Dubai Capitals couldn’t recover from the blow so they could do with their opening batter getting going and getting the bowlers under pressure and the scoring rate off to a good start.
Moeen Ali hasn’t got going for the Sharjah Warriors yet but he can hit a ball as clean as anyone in the competition and if Sharjah are going to get their first win you feel their captain is going to need to find his form and deliver a big performance.
Betting
I’m incredibly tempted to take the Dubai Capitals at even money here but I’m not sure I trust either team if I’m completely honest. I certainly don’t trust the bowling attack of either of them and so I expect a fairly high scoring game here which might sound a bit daft given that the Dubai Capitals have just been shot out for 80. Absolutely nothing went right for them in that match though and it was against the Gulf Giants who look a gulf above most in this competition so far.
Isuru Udana was down to come in at nine for the Dubai Capitals in that match and when you consider that Paul Walter walked in at eight for the Sharjah Warriors in their previous game the one thing these two teams do not lack is batting depth. They do lack pure class with the ball and this Dubai pitch has had absolutely no demons in it so far and in a day game I don’t expect any problems here. The run line for this one is 312.5 and I think that gets covered.
Tips
Back Over 312.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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