The United Arab Emirates’ much-anticipated International League T20 kicked off on Friday night when Dubai Capitals took on Abu Dhabi Riders in the league’s inaugural match.

Dubai Capitals skipper Rovman Powell shone at the Dubai International Stadium cracking 48 runs and bagging two wickets to secure his team a 73-run win.

Powell’s mission to win the opener was well supported by opener Robin Uthappa (43) and quick knocks of 26 runs each from opener Joe Root and Sikandar Raza for an impressive total of 187 for 6. Powell (2 for 15) along with Akif Raja (2 for 20) and Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2 for 16) restricted Abu Dhabi Riders to 114 for 9 in 20 overs. Another highlight of Dubai Capitals’ splendid win was Root’s four catches, CrickTracker reported.

Dubai Capitals’ all-rounder Sikandar Raza said, “The mood in the camp is quite good after winning the match. It’s always nice to start the tournament well. Close to 190 was a really good total on that wicket in Dubai. Joe Root is a star and a class cricketer. He showed his class on that wicket today. He told me that the wicket is slightly two-paced. He had said that 160 would be a good total on this wicket.”

Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders’ captain Sunil Narine said: “The Dubai Capitals bowled well and we couldn’t string enough partnerships to chase down the total. We will work on that and hopefully, we will come to the party. I will try my level best to contribute to our team’s performance and hopefully, I can put up a better performance in the upcoming games.”

Player of the Match was Rovman Powell.

Tournament details

The tournament will be played in a 34-match format across the UAE’s world-class cricket facilities in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah and will run through to February 12.

Franchise teams, comprising over 100 International and 24 UAE-based players, include Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (Knight Riders Group), Desert Vipers (Lancer Capital), Dubai Capitals (GMR), Gulf Giants (Adani Sportsline), MI Emirates (Reliance Industries), and Sharjah Warriors (Capri Global).

The full squads are:

ABU DHABI KNIGHT RIDERS SQUAD

Sunil Narine (WI) (c), Charith Asalanka (SL), Ali Khan (USA), Marchant de Lange (SA), Dhananjaya de Silva (SL), Connor Esterhuizen (SA), Fahad Nawaz, Brandon Glover (NED), Akeal Hosein (WI), Colin Ingram (SA), Lahiru Kumara (SL), Kennar Lewis (WI), Treveen Mathew (SL), Matiullah Khan, Ravi Rampaul (WI), Raymon Reifer (WI), Andre Russell (WI), Sabir Ali, Paul Stirling (IRE), Zawar Farid.

DESERT VIPERS SQUAD

Colin Munro (NZ) (c), Ali Naseer, Gus Atkinson (ENG), Sam Billings (ENG), Dinesh Chandimal (SL), Sheldon Cottrell (WI), Tom Curran (ENG), Wanindu Hasaranga (SL), Alex Hales (ENG), Benny Howell (ENG), Jake Lintott (ENG), Adam Lyth (ENG), Tymal Mills (ENG), Ronak Panoly, Matheesha Pathirana (SL), Rohan Mustafa, Sherfane Rutherford (WI), Shiraz Ahmed, Ruben Trumpelmann (NAM), Mark Watt (SCO).

DUBAI CAPITALS SQUAD

Rovman Powell (WI) (c), Akif Raja, Fabian Allen (WI), Ravi Bopara (ENG), Chirag Suri, Niroshan Dickwella (SL), Jash Giyanani, Hazrat Luqman, Hazratullah Zazai (AFG), Chamika Karunaratne (SL), Fred Klaassen (NED), Dan Lawrence (ENG), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (AFG), George Munsey (SCO), Yusuf Pathan (IND), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (SL), Joe Root (ENG), Dasun Shanaka (SL), Sikandar Raza (ZIM), Isuru Udana (SL), Robin Uthappa (IND), Ollie White (NZ).

GULF GIANTS SQUAD

James Vince (ENG) (c), Aayan Afzal Khan, Tom Banton (ENG), Liam Dawson (ENG), Dominic Drakes (WI), Gerhard Erasmus (NAM), Richard Gleeson (ENG), Tom Helm (ENG), Shimron Hetmyer (WI), Chris Jordan (ENG), Chris Lynn (AUS), Jamie Overton (ENG), Ollie Pope (ENG), Qais Ahmad (AFG), Rehan Ahmed (ENG), Chundangapoyil Rizwan, Sanchit Sharma, Ashwant Valthapa, David Wiese (NAM).

MI EMIRATES SQUAD

Kieron Pollard (WI) (c), Vritya Aravind, Basil Hameed, Trent Boult (NZ), Dwayne Bravo (WI), McKenny Clarke (WI), Bas de Leede (NED), Fazalhaq Farooqi (AFG), Andre Fletcher (WI), Imran Tahir (SA), Tom Lammonby (ENG), Dan Mousley (ENG), Muhammad Waseem, Najibullah Zadran (AFG), Craig Overton (ENG), Samit Patel (ENG), Nicholas Pooran (WI), Will Smeed (ENG), Jordan Thompson (ENG), Lorcan Tucker (IRE), Brad Wheel (SCO), Zahir Khan (AFG), Zahoor Khan.

SHARJAH WARRIORS SQUAD

Moeen Ali (ENG) (c), Chris Benjamin (ENG) (wk), Bilal Khan (PAK), Joe Denly (ENG), Mark Deyal (WI), Jamal Todd (NZ), Junaid Siddique, Tom Kohler-Cadmore (ENG), Evin Lewis (WI), Dawid Malan (ENG), Karthik Meiyappan, Mohammad Nabi (AFG), Muhammad Jawadullah, Naveen-ul-Haq (AFG), Noor Ahmad (AFG), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (AFG) (wk), Alishan Sharafu, Marcus Stoinis (AUS), Paul Walter (ENG), Chris Woakes (ENG).

How to watch the tournament

Cricket fans in Afghanistan are once again able to watch this world-class tournament live and in the comfort of their own homes by tuning in to Ariana Television.

For the full broadcasting schedule CLICK HERE