NEW DELHI: The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders secured their second win in the ILT20 Season 3, defeating Gulf Giants by 37 runs at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
Despite Aayan Afzal Khan‘s exceptional bowling performance of four wickets for 16 runs, setting a new UAE player record in DP World ILT20, the Knight Riders managed 176/9, led by Michael Pepper’s half-century. Ibrar Ahmad, Jason Holder and Ali Khan claimed two wickets each to restrict the Giants.
The Giants’ batting struggled early as they lost both openers during the powerplay. David Willey dismissed Adam Lyth in the first over, whilst captain James Vince fell to Ibrar Ahmad for 14 runs in the fourth over.
With 40/2 at powerplay’s end, the Giants were lagging behind. The situation worsened when Jordan Cox departed for 10 runs and Ibrahim Zadran was bowled by Sunil Narine after scoring 24 runs from 22 deliveries.
The Giants struggled at 62/4 at the halfway mark. Gerhard Erasmus and Shimron Hetmyer attempted to salvage the innings, but Hetmyer fell for 20 runs off 15 balls to Ali Khan. Jason Holder then removed Erasmus, who scored 24 runs from 23 balls, leaving them at 96/6 in 14.1 overs.
The chase proved unsuccessful as Holder dismissed Mark Adair for 19 runs, with the Giants finishing at 139/8.
Earlier, the Knight Riders’ powerplay was eventful, reaching 60/2. Kyle Mayers and Andries Gous scored 19 and 17 runs respectively before Tymal Mills bowled Mayers and Wahidullah Zadran caught Gous behind.
Michael Pepper, batting at four, started aggressively, hitting three consecutive boundaries off Mark Adair. He achieved a 31-ball fifty with six fours and a six, forming a 50-run partnership with Joe Clarke in 33 balls.
The Knight Riders’ momentum was halted by Aayan Afzal Khan’s remarkable spell of 4/16, surpassing Zuhaib Zuhair’s previous UAE record of 4/22. He dismissed Joe Clarke (24), Alishan Sharafu, Andrew Russell (12) and Sunil Narine, reducing Knight Riders to 131/6 in 15 overs.
In the final overs, Pepper was caught behind off Adair for 57, while Evans, Holder and Willey made brief contributions. Blessing Muzarabani took two wickets as the Knight Riders posted 176/9.
Player of the Match, Michael Pepper said: “When I went in, when the ball was hard, it came on nicely. Not too much bounce in the wicket. Through the innings, it got slower and slower and started turning a little bit more. There is a lot of instinct that goes in, waiting for your areas and then going from there. We have a long batting order; everyone can hit it out of the ground, but it still must be the batters that score runs”
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders captain, Sunil Narine said: “We were always thinking two steps ahead and there were more hands on deck. We could have gone closer to 200 after our start. Losing wickets in clusters denied us and that is something we can work on moving ahead. Our batting depth, it is a good problem. You have players batting down the order who might be playing higher otherwise. The guys are willing, and it is about them trying to make the best of whatever position they get.”
