Bopara, Little, and Willey wreck Warriors to give Abu Dhabi a 7-wicket win
Sharjah,
Ravi Bopara (4 for 15), Joshua Little (3 for 17) and David Willey (2 for 16) orchestrated Sharjah Warriors’ catastrophic batting collapse and helped Abu Dhabi march to an emphatic seven-wicket win in the 23rd match of the ILT20 season 2 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
It was another lackluster display of resilience from the Warriors batters as they were bowled out for 75 in 17 overs. Their score was one run more than their total of 74 all out against MI Emirates on the same ground in the 9th match of this edition. Warriors thus recorded the second lowest total of the tournament too.
Chasing the target, Abu Dhabi raced to victory in 10.1 overs after their openers Joe Clarke and Michael Pepper put on a 54-run opening partnership in 5.2 overs. UAE’s left-arm pacer Muhammad Jawadullah struck twice to remove Pepper caught by Joe Denly at cover and Alishan Sharafu was also caught by Denly at cover-point for a duck.
Jawadullah also went on to dismiss Clarke caught behind for 34 but Sam Hain (9n.o) and Laurie Evans (3 n.o) steered Abu Dhabi to the target without any further mishaps with 59 balls to spare. Jawadullah returned with figures of 3 wickets for 5 runs.
The Warriors woeful batting collapse began soon after Abu Dhabi won the toss and elected to bowl.
Brief scores:
Abu Knight Riders bt Sharjah Warriors by 7 wkts.
Sharjah Warriors 75 in 17 overs (Daniel Sams 24, David Willey 2 for 16, Joshua Little 3 for 17, Ravi Bopara 4 for 15)
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 79 for 3 in 10.1 overs (Joe Clarke 34, Muhammad Jawadullah 3 for 5)