The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders had claimed their debut ILT20 Season 3 victory as they got rid of Sharjah Warriorz by 30 runs in the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Jason Holder got four wickets for just 23 runs and David Willey returned with three wickets for 19 runs to keep them at 159/5.
Batting first, and unbroken 50 runs partnership in the final overs between Andre Russell and Laurie Evans helped the Knight Riders register 159/5 as Kyle Mayers put on 21 runs at an instant.
Evans was unbeaten on 39 while Russell’s 12-ball 66 was the fireworks of the final innings. The Sharjah Warriorz innings was in contrast, rife with partnerships and dot balls.
Earlier on the night, Adam Milne had started with fire in his opening innings, ticking Phil Salt and Kyle Mayers at stumps to get the Knight Riders to 26/2 in three overs. Before he was run out, Mayers went bonkers, hitting two fours and two sixes for 21 runs in nine overs. End of fielding restrictions was 49/2.
Joe Clarke who is at number three was able to navigate his way out of the tight early overs, scoring 32 in 27 balls. Meanwhile, Michael Pepper was dismissed by Adil Rashid for seven as he got to UAE’s Rohan Mustafa deep backward square leg.
The opening strike came from Harmeet Singh, smouldering Joe Clarke into the pads in the 12th over. Alishan Sharafu contributed the runs to Clarke and Laurie Evans with 24 and 23 runs respectively, and was returned by Adil Rashid for 109/5 after 15.3 overs.
If Laurie Evans had been able to chip away at 39 runs in 31 balls on a night where he did not always make it into the middle of the park, Russell did the work in the final overs, ripping off three sixes for 24 runs in 12 balls. Their stand was worth 50 runs in 27 balls as the innings ended at 159/5 in 20 overs.
Brief Scores
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders won by 30 runs over Sharjah Warriorz.
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 159/5 in 20 overs (Laurie Evans 39 Not Out, Joe Clarke 32, Alishan Sharafu 25, Andre Russell 24 runs not out, Adam Milne 2 for 37, Adil Rashid 2 for 14, Harmeet Singh 1 for 22)
Sharjah Warriorz 129/10 off 19.3 overs (Tim Southee 24, Keemo Paul 21, Rohan Mustafa 20, Jason Holder 4 for 23, David Willey 3 for 19, Kyle Mayer 2 for 16)
Player of the Match: David Willey