Dubai: Michael Pepper’s magnificent half-century led Abu Dhabi Knight Riders to a 50-run win over Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 2025-26 eliminator at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Knight Riders will take on MI Emirates in Qualifier 2 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah on Friday before taking on Desert Vipers in the final here on Sunday.
Electing to bat first, the Knight Riders posted a mammoth total of 158/7 with a century-plus partnership from openers Pepper and Phil Salt.
The duo put on 122 runs at a blistering pace to lay a solid foundation for a defendable score. After scoring 43 off 34 balls with the help of three fours and a six, Salt fell to Mohammed Nabi on the third delivery of the 14th over.
Pepper followed suit in the next over as he was run out and scored 72 off 49 balls with seven fours and three sixes for the Knight Riders.
Consecutive dismissals triggered a collapse that hampered the Knight Riders’ run-flow, but Jason Holder cut down the order and blasted 22 runs.
Nabi took 3 wickets for 25 runs in his four overs as the bowlers for the Capitals, while Waqar Salamkhail and Haider Ali claimed one wicket each.
Chasing 159, the Capitals batting unit could manage 108 runs in 16.2 overs before bowling out a campaign-ending defeat.
Captain Nabi anchored their top score with 27 off 21 balls, while James Neesham (19) scored the other notable runs.
For Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Liam Livingstone, Sunil Narine and Holder took 3 wickets each and Ajay Kumar took one wicket.