Abu Dhabi Knight Riders continued their upward momentum in DP World ILT20 Season 4 with a composed four-wicket win over Gulf Giants at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Thursday, climbing from sixth to fourth on the points table.
Chasing 166, Knight Riders were powered by a fluent opening stand between Alex Hales (46 off 39) and Phil Salt (35 off 24), who added 61 runs in 44 balls to lay a solid platform. The chase was then finished calmly by Sherfane Rutherford (30 off 22) and Andre Russell (21 not out off 13), despite a late fightback from Tabraiz Shamsi, who claimed 3 for 23.
Earlier, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla delivered a match-winning spell of 4 for 27 to restrict the Giants to 165 for 7, neutralising Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s commanding 72 off 45 balls.
Salt set the tone early with aggressive strokeplay in the powerplay, including a 17-run over off Fred Klaassen that also took him past 8,000 T20 runs. Although Shamsi struck twice to briefly stall the chase, removing Salt and Liam Livingstone, Hales held firm through the middle overs.
Rutherford shifted momentum decisively with a flurry of boundaries off Moeen Ali, before Russell absorbed pressure late on. Despite wickets falling at regular intervals, the West Indian all-rounder sealed the chase with a towering six in the final over, finishing the match with four balls to spare.
Gulf Giants had earlier threatened a much bigger total after Gurbaz dominated the innings. The Afghan opener shared useful stands with Pathum Nissanka and James Vince before bringing up his half-century off just 32 balls. However, Chawla triggered a collapse in the middle and death overs, removing key batters and ensuring the Giants lost momentum sharply after reaching 132 for 4.
Player of the Match Chawla said his continued success came from “experimenting with angles and flight” to keep batters guessing, while Giants captain James Vince admitted his side fell “20 to 30 runs short” after a promising start.
