The final stages of the ILT20 2025 season gets underway in Dubai on Wednesday when the Qualifier 1 match is played out as the Desert Vipers go up against the Dubai Capitals for the second time in the space of three days.
These two closed out the regular season in Sharjah on Monday and now they meet again with the reward for the winners being the straight passage into the final. The lovers get a second chance to reach the title game so this isn’t knockout cricket.
Desert Vipers
The Desert Vipers were the dominating team in the regular season phase of the competition but they haven’t been able to crack the code against the Dubai Capitals, who have now done the double over the Vipers for the second season in a row. You would imagine that is particularly significant given that their last meeting was as recently as Monday and it will be interesting to see whether they have been able to come up with a better game plan in such a short space of time that will enable them to come out on top here and head straight through to the final.
The Vipers can argue that the match on Monday had no significance to them and there is certainly truth behind that, but it isn’t always automatic that the intensity can be switched on as and when it is needed. The one thing we do know is if the Vipers are going to come out on top here then their batters will need to perform better than they have so far against this attack as scores of 149 and 137 won’t cut it. If they can bat better then their bowling is good enough to get the job done for them.
Dubai Capitals
The Dubai Capitals head into the playoffs full of confidence. They have won four of their last five matches to move from outside the top four into second spot and earn two bites at making the final should they need them. When you add into the mix that they won both matches against the Vipers this season too then Dubai should be feeling pretty good about their chances of skipping Qualifier 2 and heading straight through to the final.
The good thing for the Capitals is that they beat the Vipers on Monday without David Warner and he is expected to be fit to feature in this encounter so that will give their batting a further boost. The beautiful thing for the Capitals is that their bowlers look to be coming to the boil at just the right time. Their spinners were particularly effective on Monday but once the seamers were in a position to dominate they didn’t let up either which bodes well.
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Key Players
Dan Lawrence looked in excellent form for the Desert Vipers on Monday but just when it came to the point they would have wanted him to go on and get to 50 and deliver a big score he got out. In a similar situation here they will want him to go much bigger.
Qais Ahmad delivered one of the better spells of the tournament on a wicket which didn’t really give him much in Sharjah on Monday. He will get a little more assistance here and the Dubai Capitals will be eager for him to come good once again.
Betting
We have seen two low scoring matches between these two sides this season but while the run count might have been low, the sixes one hasn’t and I don’t see any reason why the sixes can’t continue to flow here because it isn’t like the Desert Vipers are a terrible batting team and can’t get after this Dubai Capitals bowling unit. They might be better suited to chasing a score against them but even with them yet to score 140 in the two clashes with the Capitals we haven’t seen the sixes falter.
The totals in their matches so far have been 15, on this ground here in Dubai, and 14 in Sharjah on Monday with the latter coming without Dave Warner and with the likes of Sam Billings and Rovman Powell still in the hut at the end of the innings. These are two batting units that go after the bowling and while this is a bigger ground than Sharjah the ball is still coming onto the bat nicely. The sixes line for this one is the same as it was the other night at 13.5 and I have to be on the over again given there is no knockout jeopardy on this match.
Tips
Back Over 13.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
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