Dubai Capitals 191 for 6 (Powell 63, Hope 43, Raza 34*, Payne 2-28) beat Desert Vipers 189 for 5 (Holden 76, Curran 62*, McCoy 2-44) by four wickets

Rovman Powell made the most of a second life gifted to him by Azam Khan to power Dubai Capitals to their maiden ILT20 title as they beat Desert Vipers in the thrilling final.

Capitals conceded 189, when they were in a position restrict Vipers to a lower total and were then 31 for 3 after five overs in the chase. That could have been 46 for 4, but a wicketkeeping error from Azam was punished in full by Powell, who hammered 63 off 38, to help Capitals pull off a four-wicket win. Shai Hope and Sikandar Raza also played key roles in the stiff chase as Capitals registered their fourth win against Vipers in the season.

Half-centuries from Max Holden and Sam Curran took Vipers to a competitive total, with Azam also chipping in with an impactful cameo of 27 off 13. But it wasn't enough in the end.

Powell's second life the turning point

Capitals were in trouble early in their chase of 190, with David Warner chopping on off David Payne and Mohammad Amir removing Gulbadin Naib and Sam Billings, who was also dropped off Amir three balls before his dismissal.

Vipers almost had another one when Nathan Sowter had Powell stumped down the leg side, but the third umpire caught Azam bringing his gloves beside the stumps before collecting the ball and it was declared a no-ball.

That proved to be the turning point in the game as Powell, who was on 2 off 6 at the time, switched gears to wrestle momentum away from Vipers. He hit Sowter for a six before crashing 15 off the 16 runs Curran conceded off the next over, with two fours and a six.

Hope picked up the pace as well, hitting Sowter for a six as the next two overs fetched Capitals 21 runs.

Even as Curran accounted for Hope, Powell kept going, while Dasun Shanaka joined in with an impactful cameo of 21 off 10.

Raza applies finishing touches

With 38 still needed off 19 deliveries, the job was far from done but Raza ensured Capitals went over the line.

Raza and Powell picked up a boundary each off the 18th over, before Sowter finally had his man when Powell was caught at backward point.

However, Raza hit three fours off four balls in the next over to leave Capitals with just nine needed off the final over.

Raza finished the game in style, hitting Khuzaima Tanveer for a six and four off the first two balls of the last over to seal a win without any more drama.

McCoy gives Capitals the perfect start

Capitals got off to a great start after winning the toss as Obed McCoy removed the dangerous Alex Hales with his first ball. Hales chipped him to midwicket, where Haider Ali took a good catch diving forward.

Capitals could have had Gurbaz back in the hut in the next over, but Scott Kuggeleijn dropped him at deep point off Farhan Khan.

Holden, who cracked two boundaries off McCoy in the first five balls he faced, injected Vipers with the early momentum, racing to 22 off 13 when Gurbaz miscued McCoy to mid-off in the fifth over.

Holden holds Vipers together

Holden continued to attack, picking three boundaries off Kuggeleijn to take Vipers to 53 for 2 at the end of the powerplay. He brought up a 32-ball half-century in the eighth over with a boundary driven back over Raza's head. Another attempted straight drive off the next ball almost saw him hole out, but Powell dropped him running to his right from long-on.

Dan Lawrence then holed out at deep cover off Haider, having contributed just 10 runs to a 41-run stand for the third wicket.

Capitals slowed things down and it only got better for them when Holden holed off to long-on off Raza.

Curran, Azam finish strong for Vipers

But Curran and Azam then hammed 67 off 29 balls for the fifth wicket to take Vipers to a strong total. Azam made an instant impact, clipping his first ball fine down the leg side for a boundary before clearing long-off in the same over.

McCoy returned to bowl the 18th over and Curran welcomed him with boundaries on either side of point off the first two balls and then nudged him past fine leg for another boundary two balls later.

Kuggeleijn, who had been expensive on the night, bowled the penultimate over and Curran greeted him with a 117-metre six over midwicket. Curran brought up a 28-ball fifty next ball before picking up another boundary off a top edge.

Kuggeleijn also dropped Azam off the last ball of the over to finish with figures of 0 for 40 from three overs.

Azam hit another boundary to punish that mistake, but in the end, his innings won't be what he will likely remember about this final.