Right then that's it from game no. 23 of ILT20 2024. The next game of the ILT20 league will be played between Dubai Capitals and Gulf Giants on 7th February at 8 pm IST (2.30 pm GMT). You can join us an hour early for the build-up. Till then cheers!
Joshua Little is the player of the match and he says he just tried to keep it nice and simple and a bit of movement at the top helped him big time. Adds that he was just running in hard and looking to attack from the front. Mentions that the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders has backed him all along and such things motivate an individual to serve them even better
The skipper of Abu Dhabi Knight Riders Andre Russell says the bowlers made it easy for him. Adds that the bowlers made the new ball dance around and that just did the job for him. Mentions that Imad Wasim, himself and Ali Khan in the side he decided to bowlout Joshua Little and David Willey right at the top. Mentions that they assessed the wicket and planned on just winning without thinking of the NRR so they are happy to get a win tonight.
The skipper of Sharjah Warriors Tom Kohler-Cadmore says they kept losing wickets and that has become a theme for them throughout and with 4 and 5 down with not much on board puts the middle order under tremendous pressure. Adds that they were trying to win the game by putting them in their best positions but it did not click tonight. Mentions that there is nothing wrong with the batting order as players have done well at these positions but they just did not bat well today. Closes by saying that they knew after 3 games that NRR would not be in their favor and that they just needed to win the remaining games.
Stay tuned for the presentation...
Earlier in the game, after being asked to bat first, Sharjah Warriors never got going as they were bundled out for just 75. The batters were a letdown for the fans of Sharjah Warriors as they kept falling like a deck of cards. Daniel Sams scored 24, skipper Tom Kohler-Cadmore managed to get 19 and Adil Rashid scored 10. The rest were bundles inside single-figure scores. The bowlers of Abu Dhabi Knight Riders were excellent and broke the backbone of the batting right from the top. Ravi Bopara picked up 4 and was brilliant with his bag of tricks. Joshua Little took 3, David Willey took a couple and Imad Wasim took one.
The bowlers didn't have much to defend and there weren't many happy moments with the ball as well for them. A big positive was the way Muhammad Jawadullah bowled as he picked up 3 wickets after being introduced a bit late.
Chasing down a low total, a good start was all they needed and that's all they got to remove any sense of miracle in the air. The opening pair added 54 for the first wicket and that pretty much did the job for the side. The side lost the top order in a jiffy but the target wasn't much to create any panic in the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders dugout. Joe Clarke top-scored for them with 34 to his name while Michael Pepper played a good hand of 18 as well.
A one-sided affair reflects why the sides are where they are in the table as Abu Dhabi Knight Riders bulldozed past Sharjah Warriors in the blink of an eye.
In over# 11
4
Maheesh Theekshana 30/0(3.1)
10.1
4
FOUR! Sam Hain drills a full toss on off for four through cover and seals the deal for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders as they defeat Sharjah Warriors by 7 wickets.
In over# 10
1
0
2
0
1
0
Junaid Siddique 11/0(2)
9.6
1
Slower bumper on off, Sam Hain taps it to the leg side and takes a single.
9.5
.
Short-pitched on leg, Sam Hain looks to shoulder arm this but it hits him on his shoulder.
9.4
2
Full toss on off, Sam Hain drills this to sweeper cover for a couple.
9.3
.
Short-pitched in middle, Sam Hain ducks down.
9.2
1
Back of a length around off, Laurie Evans inside edges this towards fine leg for a single.
9.1
.
Back of a length just above middle, Laurie Evans looks for the wild slog but misses out.