Sharafu and Imad steer the Knights to a sensational victory | ADKR vs DV | ADKR 2024
ADKR took on the Desert Vipers at the famed Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The Knights were playing their second home game and aimed to make it a memorable one. Both the teams were looking forward to putting on a great performance and moving up in the points table by bagging an important victory. The ADKR fans had a lot of excitement amongst them, seeing their favourite players take on the field at their home.
Skipper Sunil Narine won the toss and put the Vipers into bat first. The Knights came out on the field with positive intent and an attacking mindset right from the outset. Imad Wasim picked up 2 wickets in the powerplay to give the Knights a tremendous start. ADKR continued to put pressure on the opposition batters by picking wickets and not allowing any partnership to build. Narine came in with his bag full of mysteries and spun a web in the middle overs to stem the flow of runs and also picked up a wicket. The resilience of Munro kept the Vipers in the game but soon a searing Ali Khan yorker knocked him over. The Vipers scrambled their way to a total of 154, as the ADKR bowlers executed their plans to perfection & bowled consistent lines & lengths.
The Knights were rocked early in the run-chase with both the openers walking back to the pavilion early. However, young Alishan Sharafu stood his ground and began a strong fightback. Alongside Imad Wasim, Sharafu built a good partnership & bailed the Knights out of trouble. Once he settled, Sharafu started to play his shots fearlessly and kept the positive intent going. Imad continued to play second fiddle to Alishan and kept his confidence at a high. Sharafu spared no bowler once he got in the zone as he even charged Shaheen Afridi to hit a couple of boundaries. Dre-Russ came in at the tailend of the chase to add the finishing touches by smashing humongous sixes. Sharafu stayed right till the end and finished with 82 not out as the Knights cruised to the total with 16 balls left and clinched the win by 6 wickets. Andre Russell smashed a monstrous six to finish the chase off. The Knights will now look to take this confidence forward in tomorrow’s game & continue the winning momentum.