During the second match of ILT20 2024 between MI Emirates and Dubai Capitals, Capitals fielder Sam Billings grabbed a blinder at the slips to dismiss Emirates opener Will Smeed for 5 runs. The incident took place on the second ball of the second over when Smeed attempted to drive a full bowled ball by Jason Holder. However, the ball went around the outside edge of Smeeds’ bat and Billings clung to a blinder as he dived to his right in the slips.
Batting first, MI Emirates scored a total of 159/9, in which opener Muhammad Waseem was the top scorer and scored 51 runs off 26 balls. Apart from Waseem, Andre Fletcher hit 30 off 18 balls while captain Nicholas Pooran never got going and scored 21 runs off 23 balls while Tim David scored 27 runs off 22 balls. Apart from these batsmen, no other MI batsman could cross the ten-run mark and was dismissed cheaply.
Watch: Sam Billings makes amazing catch in the slips
Taken out of nowhere 🤯🤯
Sam Billings already has a contender for the tournament capture and we’re barely in game 2️⃣#DCvMIE | #AnyKasarNahiChhodenge | #DPWorldILT20onZee pic.twitter.com/jYE3jPOGm5
– Zee Grillo (@ilt20onzee) January 20, 2024
Jason Holder and Sikandar Raza were the stars of the Dubai Capitals show with the ball and picked up three wickets each. On the other hand, Dushmantha Chameera, Reolof van der Merwe and Akif Raja finished the innings with 1 wicket each.
Chasing the target, Dubai Capitals lost captain and opener David Warner early and were dismissed for a score of just 1 run. The Capitals have big names like Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sam Billings, Rovman Powell and Sikandar Raza who will have the responsibility of helping the Capitals get over the line against MI Emirates.
ILT20 started in the year 2023 and has become very famous in just a year with top players like David Warner, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sam Billings, Rovman Powell, DJ Bravo, Andre Russell, Imad Wasim and many other famous names from all over the world. world are part of this league. The UAE-based league consists of six teams including MI Emirates, Dubai Capitals, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Desert Vipers, Gulf Giants and Sharjah Warriors.
The Desert Vipers are the current champions of the ILT20 and their goal will be to defend their title this season. On the other hand, MI Emirates, Dubai Capitals and Gulf Giants are also some of the main contenders to win the title this season.
MI Emirates, Dubai Capitals and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders are based on the Indian Premier League franchises Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight and the owners of these teams are the same.
The Indian Premier League, which is probably the biggest T20 league in the world, has inspired many other countries to start their own T20 tournament. This includes the Big Bash League in Australia, the Pakistan The Super League in Pakistan and now the SA20 in South Africa, these few leagues are probably some of the most watched T20 tournaments in the world.
On the other hand, after every season there is a huge increase in the popularity of the Indian Premier League, so the price of sponsorship has also increased very rapidly. The TATA group has renewed its sponsorship agreement with BCCI for the IPL and has signed a deal worth Rs 2,500 crore.