Abu Dhabi Knight Riders book playoff spot

In a do-or-die game, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders beat the Gulf Giants to book their place in the playoffs of the ILT20 at the expense of their opponents. The Phil Salt (72*)-Michael Pepper (83) opening combination took ADKR to 179 for 1 before they defended the total comfortably by restricting the Giants only to 147 for 9. For the Giants, Mooen Ali scored 78 off 49 in vain. After a good start to the season with three wins in the first three games, they lost seven games in a row and now stand eliminated.

Pepper got the innings going with two streaky boundaries in the second over after ADKR were put in to bat in Dubai. At 23/0 after four overs, the Pepper hit two monstrous sixes off Azmatullah Omarzai while Salt pulled him for a third maximum in the same over that yielded 20 runs. A 13-run over took ADKR to 56/0 to end the PowerPlay. Pepper brought up his fifty with back-to-back boundaries off Muhammad Zuhaib in the ninth over. Pepper continued to be the aggressor as ADKR brought up the 100-run stand. In the 15th over, Aayan Khan finally broke the 131-run stand with Pepper holing out to long-on. Salt, who was playing anchor and scoring close to a run-a-ball brought up his 50 with a six over deep mid-wicket. He then scored two sixes in the last over to take ADKR to 179 for 1.

In response, the Giants got off to the worst start possible with Jason Holder dismissing Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck. James Vince looked good in his short stay at the crease with three boundaries but Holder picked him up at the end of his second over. Ajay Kumar then picked up Ben Kellaway as the Giants were three down by the end of the PowerPlay.

Moeen began his innings taking Livingstone for a six before following it up with two boundaries and a six in the next over off Chawla. But, the Giants kept losing wickets at crucial times as Olly Stone picked up Omarzai off his first ball. But Stone wasn't so fortuitous in his next over as Moeen smashed him for 19 runs to also bring up his 50. Kyle Mayers, his batting partner, however struggled and couldn't find the boundary in his 10-ball innings of six runs as he nicked off to slip off Sunil Narine. The West Indian then had Sean Dickson for a duck as the Giants continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. The decisive blow came when Moeen holed out to long-off off Rusell after a valiant effort. He then picked up Aayan and Ali Khan to wrap up the game and book ADKR's place in the playoffs.

Brief Scores: Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 179/1 in 20 overs (Michael Pepper 83, Phil Salt 72; Aayan Khan 1-34) beat Gulf Giants 147/9 in 20 overs (Moeen Ali 78, James Vince 19; Andre Russell 3-13) by 32 runs