Abu Dhabi Knight Riders Vs Gulf Giants 16th Match 31 January 2024

16th T20 • Abu Dhabi

161/6 (20)

ADKR

164/4 (18.2)

ADKR won by 6 wickets

Info

Fantasy

Live

Scorecard

Stats

Playing XI

Player of the Match Michael-Kyle Pepper

59(40)

ADKR

Info

Gulf Giants

161/6 (20)

Batters

Jamie Smith

25.00

b Willey

James Vince

(C)

100.00

c Evans b Wasim

Chris Lynn

139.58

b Ali Khan

Jordan Cox

77.78

c Lange b Wasim

Usman Khan

143.75

hit wicket (Russell)

Shimron Hetmyer

237.50

c Lange b Russell

Jamie Overton

100.00

Not out

Carlos Brathwaite

100.00

Not out

Extras

(B: 0, LB: 2, NB: 1, W: 9)

TOTAL

(20 Ov, RR: 8.05)

161/6

Did not Bat

Zohaib Zubair, Dominic Drakes, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Richard Gleeson

Bowlers

EXT

4.50

9.75

7.75

5.50

17.00

10.67

Fall Of Wickets

SCORE

OVER

Jamie Smith

b Willey

1-2

0.5

James Vince

c Evans b Wasim

2-21

3.2

Jordan Cox

c Lange b Wasim

3-93

12.6

Chris Lynn

b Ali Khan

4-132

16.6

Usman Khan

hit wicket (Russell)

5-134

17.4

Shimron Hetmyer

c Lange b Russell

6-157

19.2

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders

164/4 (18.2)

Batters

Joe Clarke

87.50

c Smith b Rahman

Michael-Kyle Pepper

147.50

b Gleeson

Alishan Sharafu

78.57

c Brathwaite b Rahman

Sam Hain

106.25

Not out

Laurie Evans

54.55

c Drakes b Zubair

Andre Russell

230.77

Not out

Extras

(B: 0, LB: 12, NB: 0, W: 15)

TOTAL

(18.2 Ov, RR: 8.95)

164/4

Did not Bat

Sagar Kalyan, Imad Wasim, Sunil Narine, David Willey, Marchant de Lange, Ali Khan

Bowlers

EXT

Richard Gleeson

7.50

Dominic Drakes

10.50

Mujeeb Ur Rahman

3.2

9.30

Carlos Brathwaite

14.00

Jamie Overton

6.25

Zohaib Zubair

5.67

Fall Of Wickets

SCORE

OVER

Joe Clarke

c Smith b Rahman

1-62

6.1

Alishan Sharafu

c Brathwaite b Rahman

2-106

10.6

Michael-Kyle Pepper

b Gleeson

3-110

11.4

Laurie Evans

c Drakes b Zubair

4-122

14.4

Match Info

Date & Time

31 Jan, 08:00 PM IST

Venue

Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Match

16th T20,

International League T20

Umpires

Martin Saggers (England), Rod Tucker (Australia), Leslie Reifer (West Indies, TV)

Referee

Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)

Toss

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders elected to bowl

2 1 1 0 0 4

Over 16

Runs: 8

4 1 1 2 0 1

Over 17

Runs: 9

1 6 2 1 1 6

Over 18

Runs: 17

1 6

Over 19

Runs: 7

All Overs

Player of the Match Michael-Kyle Pepper

59(40)

Commentary

Till then, after watching a lot of cricket in our lives but witnessing rain in Abu Dhabi for the first time, this is Dwaipayan Mukherjee and Bidipto signing off for tonight. Take care!

So, the Gulf Giants get replaced by their opposition tonight in the points table and slide down to the 4th spot. It is going to get even more exciting when the Dubai Capitals play last year’s finalists Desert Vipers, who had a thrilling last ball victory against the table toppers last night and an iconic Shaheen Afridi celebration. Join us for that one!

Michael Pepper (Player of the Match) : When you are batting in the powerplay, you have to take the aggressive route with just 2 fielders outside the inner circle. More pace helped on that surface, it did skid through slightly, there were phases when it felt particularly nice when pace was offered. It did get a little challenging when they changed the pace, but overall I would say it was a good wicket. (On importance of your batting partner) Very important, it changes the dynamic when you have not lost any wickets in the powerplay. We know that some days it is going to be the other way round. Very crucial to play the supporting role and today it had all fallen into place for us.

Sunil Narine (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders captain): The key is to pick up wickets in the power play. We did that today. We try different things according to the state of the game, today, most of them worked. We need to win with bigger margins now but at the end of the day, it's about winning.

James Vince (Gulf Giants captain): I thought we actually has a par score out there this evening, but the bowling wasn't all that good in the power play. It swung too much when Carlos came on. That phase of play did not help us at all. We did try and pull things back later on, but, not to be. We need to tighten up a little bit and play our best game.

It is now time for the post-match presentation!

Abu Dhabi (164/4) in 18.2 overs defeat Gulf Giants (161/6) by 6 wickets

Michael Pepper - 59 (40) | Andre Russell - 30* (13)
Mujeeb - 2/31 | Zuhaib Zubair - 1/17

Well, some ADKR fans might say that theyn would have liked for this one to get done before the rain arrived. But it has been a job well done. Usually, we would mention how batters made it easy at the top for a chase to be successfully executed but 27 extras by the Gulf Giants really made it very easy for Narine's batters to employ a risk-averse approach because the required run rate never caused any hurries.

They raced along and Pepper was the chief contributor with a 40-ball 59.The English opener did everything right on a day when little went the Giants' way. The gloveman smashed 7 fours and 3 sixes in what will be a confidence boosting show. It was down to a run-a-ball around the 10th over but that's when the Knight Riders really slowed down. They were 100 for 1 after 10 overs and the next 7 odd overs is where the Giants were able to put a bit of a strangulation.

They lost a few wickets in clusters and it hampered their run-rate. But they were so far ahead in the first place that it didn't really matter, Russell came in and swung his bat around for a quickfire 30 an they got over the line with 10 balls to spare. He only faced 13 balls, launching 3 sixes.

This win takes them to a much better position in the points table and they are peaking at the right time. Dre Russ continues to contribute incessantly with both bat and ball and that has been a wonderful sight for cricket fans across the globe. Gulf Giants have not really set the stage on fire and this loss would lead to some hard discussions.

Bowlers like Gleeson and Jamie Overton along with the leggie Zuhaib Zubair did make things tough for the opposition. But they were about the only positives for Vince and Andy Flower who also had the episode with the umpires after Brathwaite's marathon over that never wanted to finish.

Post match reactions to follow.

18.2 Mujeeb Ur Rahman to Andre Russell, SIX RUNS TO FINISH THE MATCH! ABU DHABI KNIGHT RIDERS MOVE TO THIRD IN THE TABLE! Length ball tossed up around off-stump. Russell pumps it high and handsome, not quite off the middle of the bat but with enough power behind it to clear the rope to the left of long-off!

18.1 Mujeeb Ur Rahman to Sam Hain, over the wicket, short and wide outside off-stump. Slapped down to deep cover off the back foot for a single.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman [3.0-0-24-2] is back into the attack