The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders won their first DP World ILT20 match, defeating Sharjah Warriors by five wickets at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders bowlers set the tone for the match by limiting the Warriors to 130 for nine in their 20 overs. Following that, Joe Clarke batted brilliantly, scoring 54 runs off 32 balls to help his team cross the line with 3.2 overs to spare.
With an 86-run partnership in 8.2 overs, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders openers Joe Clarke and Paul Stirling put their team in control. Clarke hit consecutive boundaries off Naveen-ul-Haq to take his team to 19 for no loss at the end of the second over. The Englishman raised the stakes even higher in the fourth over, smashing two sixes and two fours off Junaid Siddique. Paul Stirling also contributed, hitting two sixes to help his team reach 71 for no loss in six overs.
Marcus Stoinis broke the opening partnership in the ninth over, dismissing Clarke for 54 runs off 32 balls, but the Knight Riders were still 45 runs short of their target. Following that, Brandon King batted 19 runs off 18 balls, bringing the Knight Riders closer to their target of 118 for two. The Warriors took three wickets in quick succession, but Connor Esterhuizen stood tall and sealed the match in the seventeenth over with a boundary off Naveen-ul-bowling. Haq's
Matiullah Khan bowled out Dawid Malan for seven runs off eight balls in the fourth over to get the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders off to a great start. However, Evin Lewis got the Warriors started in the fifth over with a six and a four. Tom Kohler-Cadmore was also in fine form, hitting Andre Russell for a six in the eighth over. Lewis and Kohler-Cadmore kept the Warriors' innings going for a few overs, but the momentum shifted to the Knight Riders when Akeal Hosein dismissed Lewis for 23 runs off 20 balls, ending Lewis and Kohler-50-run Cadmore's partnership.
Following that, the Warriors experienced a massive batting collapse. In the twelfth over, Sabir Rao sent Moeen Ali back for nine runs off eight balls, and Kohler-Cadmore was on his way back for 46 runs off 40 balls after being run out in the fourteenth. Matiullah Khan struck again in the fifteenth over, catching Marcus Stoinis for six runs. Mohammad Nabi and Naveen-ul-Haq fell short of the crease in the sixteenth and nineteenth overs, respectively, for the Warriors. At the end of the penultimate over, the Warriors were in a precarious position at 116 for nine.
However, Chris Benjamin provided a fantastic finish, hitting a boundary and a six off Marchant de Lange in the final over to help the Warriors reach a respectable total of 130 for nine at the end of their 20 overs.
Joe Clarke of the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders commented on their performance "Paul and I scored 71 runs in the first six overs to win the game. It was definitely more difficult to bat in the middle of our innings, but the important thing is that we won."
Meanwhile, Sharjah Warriors' Marcus Stoinis said, "The margins are always small in T20 cricket. We got off to a good start with the bat, but we didn't capitalise on that. We had a few runouts as well."
The cricket fans are in for the biggest treat of their lives as the playoffs of the DP World ILT20 begin on February 8, 2023 at the Dubai International Stadium.
Brief scores: Sharjah Warriors 130 for nine (Tom Kohler-Cadmore 46, Chris Benjamin 24n.o, Matiullah Khan two for 24); Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 133 for five (Joe Clarke 54, Paul Stirling 39, Muhammad Jawadullah three for 24)