Sharjah Warriorz beat Abu Dhabi Knight Riders

Sharjah Warriorz held their nerve to clinch a dramatic four-wicket win over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders to stay alive in playoff race of the ILT20. The Warriorz moved to six points, and have two games remaining. Taskin Ahmed and Wasim Akram reduced the Knight Riders to 10 for 4 on Monday night, with Adil Rashid’s three wickets later restricting them to 134 for 9 despite Sherfane Rutherford’s 44 off 36.

Then, James Rew’s unbeaten 42 off 29 balls with four fours and a six, coupled with Raza’s 28 off 25 balls took Sharjah Warriorz to victory on the final ball. In the second innings, Jason Holder got the early wicket of Johnson Charles (0 off 6) in the second over, and Monank Patel (7 off 8) soon followed in the third over, bowled by Ajay Kumar.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore (30 off 35) then hit three boundaries in a single over. Charles along with Tom Abell (13 off 13) guided the Warriorz to 38 for 2 by the end of the powerplay. Olly Stone delivered a breakthrough for the Knight Riders by removing Tom Abell, while Sunil Narine kept Kohler-Cadmore and Sikandar Raza in check. The Warriorz eventually reached 58 for 3 at the halfway stage of the chase.

Sunil Narine finally broke the resistance by trapping Kohler-Cadmore LBW. His 35-run stand off 32 balls with Raza kept the Warriorz in the chase. Rew then struck a pair of boundaries off Andre Russell in the 14th over and continued to rotate the strike alongside Raza as the Warriorz reached 91 for 4 after 15 overs. Raza and Rew kept the scoreboard ticking to complete a 57-run partnership off 35 balls.

Raza was dismissed in the 18th over for Ajay Kumar’s second scalp, after which skipper Holder bowled a superb penultimate over to leave 12 required off the final six balls. However, Rew and Adil Rashid saw out the final over to seal an important win. Earlier, Taskin Ahmed and Wasim Akram ripped through the top order as the Knight Riders suffered an early collapse.