Livingstone’s fireworks sink Sharjah Warriorz by 39 runs

Liam Livingstone achieved a rampant 82 run blitz off 38 deliveries as the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders claimed a 39-run win over the Sharjah Warriorz in their opening fixture of the DP World ILT20 Season 4 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

His explosive finish propelled the Knight Riders to 233/4, the second-highest total in DP World ILT20 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, where 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 a formidable target, the Warriorz could not find the start they needed. They lost Johnson Charles (10 off 9), 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. Kumar also returned the best figures of the day in the process with 1/22 in his four overs.

With the required run-rate surging to almost 20 runs in the final five overs, the equation proved too steep. Pretorius (39 off 20) 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 in the evening, 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 Dwayne Pretorius in the third over.f

Alex 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.

Liam Livingstone and Sherfane Rutherford seized control of the innings with a 95-run stand. Their assault included 19-run overs off both Sikandar Raza and Dwayne Pretorius, ensuring the Knight Riders were scoring briskly throughout the innings.

Sherfane Rutherford had plundered three fours and three sixes until he was scalped by Saurabh Netravalkar in the 18th over. Andre Russell (11* off 4) joined Livingstone as they finished with a 50-run stand in just 13 balls courtesy of the massive final over.

Player of the Match, Liam Livingstone said: “The boys up top played well and set a strong foundation. It took me a while to get going as the pitch was a little slow in the middle, but thankfully I found rhythm towards the end."

Captain of the Sharjah Warriorz, Tim Southee said: “That was a dangerous batting lineup and the only way to slow them down was by taking wickets. We weren’t able to do that through the middle overs or at the back end. We were a little off with the ball and probably in the field as well, and credit to the Knight Riders because they played well.”