We've got plenty of match winners: Sherfane Rutherford after ADKR open DP World ILT20 campaign with win over Sharjah Warriorz

Sharjah, December 4, 2025: Abu Dhabi Knight Riders began their DP World International League T20 (ILT20) Season 4 campaign win a convincing 39-run victory against Sharjah Warriorz at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. Liam Livingstone emerged as the Player of the Match for his unbeaten 82 off 38 balls, guiding the team to a total of 233/4. Meanwhile, Olly Stone, George Garton and Andre Russell bagged two wickets a piece to get the job done for their side.

All-rounder Sherfane Rutherford also played his part with the bat, scoring 45 off 27 balls. Reflecting on the team’s setup and contributions from the batters, the West Indian shared, “When you look at our team, we’ve got a lot of potential and plenty of match winners. However, the result can be decided on the day and for us as a team, it’s just about taking every game as it comes. We want to do the basics right and keep enjoying.”

He also shed some light on his experience batting alongside Liam Livingstone. “It’s good batting with him (Livingstone). He’s someone who takes the game on, just like me. So, it was just about picking our moments and picking the right bowlers to take the game on”, Rutherford added.

The pair combined for a 95-run stand, guiding their team past a total of 200. Their partnership included 33 runs off the final over, courtesy Livingstone smashing five sixes. Sharing an insight into their approach, Rutherford stated, “For me, when I’m batting, I tend not to look at a target too much and just focus on scoring. When we reached 170 with me and Livingstone batting, it seemed scoring over 200 might be a little difficult. But we scored more than 30 runs off the final over and that really set us up to come and bowl.”

Rutherford also spoke about his experience of batting in Sharjah, while emphasising on the importance of beginning the tournament with a win. He said, “I did enjoy batting here today. I haven’t really scored that many runs in Sharjah. It’s a small ground but I’ve never really had the luck but today was one of those days when it went well for me. As a player, you want to make sure you set the tone in the first game of the tournament. So, I think it was important for me to try and do something for my team.”

Sharing an insight into the team’s mindset, especially in the batting department, Rutherford concluded, “In our meetings, one of the standout messages was for our batters to try and maximize most of the overs. In a team that has so many power-hitters, we want to make sure that we set it up well for the guys coming in the backend. Today was a good start for us, and hopefully, we can continue this way.”

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders will take on the Desert Vipers in their next match on Friday, 5th December in Sharjah.