Piyush Chawla takes four in ADKR's comfortable win

Piyush Chawla's four-fer (4 for 27) helped Abu Dhabi Knight Riders notch their second successive win of the ILT20, and third overall, as they beat the Gulf Giants by four wickets in Abu Dhabi. Rahmanullah Gurbaz top-scored for the Giants with 72 off 45 but it went in vain as a collective batting effort by ADKR took them to victory.

With the Giants put in to bat, Gurbaz began with some clean hitting, taking down Jason Holder for two fours and a six in the bowler's first two overs. Pathum Nissanka began to look menacing with a flick over the longer boundary for six but fell to Olly Stone's first delivery. Giants' captain James Vince played a beautiful cover-drive before following it up with a backfoot punch to the fence. Gurbaz brought up 6000 T20 runs with a six off Stone that just cleared long-on.

Chawla was introduced into the attack in the seventh over and struck gold first ball with the wicket of Vince, while Sunil Narine kept pushing in some quiet overs. Gurbaz got hold of the leggie in the next over as he moved to fifty, with the Giants bringing up the 100 in the 11th over. Chawla then deceived Moeen Ali with a googly, with the edge going only as far as short third man. Gurbaz continued to find joy against Stone with some flat-batted shots, but a slower-ball by Ajay Kumar in the next over was hit straight by the Afghan to deep mid-wicket.

Chawla then picked up Azmatullah Omarzai and Matthew Forde in successive balls as the Giants stumbled to 135 for 6 after 16 overs. The regular loss of wickets meant that the Giants couldn't find the ideal finish at the death, scoring only 33 runs in the last five overs to finish on 165 for 7.

In reply, Phil Salt and Alex Hales came out all guns blazing. Salt scored two successive boundaries off the first two balls before taking Fred Klaasen for 17 runs in his third over. Hales scored his first boundary in the fourth over—a slap through covers to the fence—before adding a couple more to take ADKR to 53/0 at the end of the PowerPlay.

Hales punished Aayan Khan for six, but the Giants struck from the other end with Tabraiz Shamsi picking up the dangerous Salt. He followed it up with the wicket of Liam Livingstone in the next over as the Giants attempted to make a comeback. With Hales constantly finding boundaries at one end, Sherfane Rutherford took on Moeen and went 4,6,6 in a 16-run 14th over. But three wickets fell in three overs, including those of Hales and Rutherford, as ADKR were 138 for 5 after 17 overs, close to where the Giants were at the same stage. Andre Russell then smashed two massive sixes to seal the chase and ensure there was no doubt in the result.

Brief Scores: Gulf Giants 165 for 7 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 72, Pathum Nissanka 17; Piyush Chawla 4-27) lost to Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 167 for 6 in 19.2 overs (Alex Hales 46, Phil Salt 35; Tabraiz Shamsi 3-23, Fred Klaasen 2-37) by 4 wickets.