Livingstone’s fireworks help Abu Dhabi Knight Riders sink Sharjah Warriorz by 39 runs

Sharjah, Dec 4 (PTI) Liam Livingstone lit up the Sharjah Cricket Stadium with a rampant 82-run blitz off 38 deliveries as Abu Dhabi Knight Riders claimed a 39-run win over Sharjah Warriorz in their opening fixture of the World ILT20.

His explosive finish propelled the Knight Riders to 233/4, the second highest total in the League's history.

Livingstone found support from Sherfane Rutherford (45 off 27) through the middle overs, while Alex Hales (32 off 19) and Alishan Sharafu (34 off 23) provided a brisk start at the top of the innings.

Livingstone reserved his fiercest hitting for the final over, when he hammered five sixes, including four in a row, for a record of 33 runs against Dwayne Pretorius.

Adil Rashid was the lone bright spot for the Warriorz, returning figures of 2/31.

Chasing the formidable target, the Warriorz could not find the start they needed. They lost Johnson Charles (10 off 9 balls), Tom Abell (6 off 6) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (14 off 18) inside the first seven overs with only 56 runs on board.

Tim David (60 off 24) scripted the fightback. David hit Piyush Chawla for three consecutive sixes in the ninth over to keep the home side in the fray. While the wickets of Sikandar Raza (8 off 11) and Dinesh Karthik (5 off 4) tumbled around him, David surged to a rapid fifty in 21 balls, striking six sixes on his way there.

Ajay Kumar put an end to the onslaught, dismissing David in the 13th over to bring the score to 120/6.

With the required run-rate surging to almost 20 runs in the final five overs, the equation proved too steep.

Pretorius (39 off 20 balls) shepherded the tail with a gutsy knock, comprising four fours and two sixes, while Adil Rashid (25 off 11) played a consolatory cameo with three sixes to take down Andre Russell for 25 runs in the penultimate over.

However, the Warriorz finished considerably short at 194/9.

Earlier, Michael Pepper (15 off 9) set the tone for the Knight Riders’ innings with three boundaries in the first over before he was cleaned up by Pretorius in the third over.

Hales and Alishan Sharafu cracked multiple boundaries as Knight Riders finished the powerplay at 58/1.

The partnership was worth 51 runs when Adil Rashid broke through. Rashid first castled Hales in the eighth over and then removed Sharafu to leave the Knight Riders at 88/3 in ten overs.

Livingstone and Rutherford then seized control of the innings with a 95-run stand.

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