Season 3 hasn’t started well for the Gulf Giants as we’ve now lost two back-to-back games in the DP World ILT20 2025. Our first match was a close contest against Sharjah Warriorz, where we fought hard, but Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s knock snatched the game away from us. In our second game, though, we were thoroughly outplayed by the Desert Vipers, who defeated us by 6 wickets.

Now, we have two crucial games coming up on 18th and 19th January, starting with the Dubai Capitals. In our previous game against the Desert Vipers, we struggled and were completely outplayed, losing by 6 wickets. James Vince was our standout performer with the bat, scoring a brilliant 76 not out. His innings helped us reach 119 runs, as at one point, it looked like we might be bowled out for under 100.

With the ball, Mark Adair was impressive, picking up 2 crucial wickets and conceding only 12 runs in his four overs. He kept us in the game during the first half of the chase, but Sam Curran and Sherfane Rutherford eventually dashed our hopes and led the Desert Vipers to a comfortable win. We’re hoping to put in a much stronger performance this time and secure our first victory of the season against Dubai Capitals.

Dubai Capitals, on the other hand, started the tournament with a win over MI Emirates, securing a close 1-run victory. However, MI Emirates got the better of them in their return match, winning by 26 runs. Dubai Capitals have a strong side, featuring players like Rovman Powell, Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Sikandar Raza, Shai Hope, and Sam Billings. They won’t be an easy team to beat, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.

In the previous seasons, we’ve had the upper hand against Dubai Capitals. We defeated them twice in the group stages of Season 2, but they got the better of us in the crucial Qualifier 2, knocking us out of the tournament. We also beat them twice in Season 1. Overall, we have a better head-to-head record against them, and we aim to leverage that advantage in this upcoming game.