Abu Dhabi Knight Riders beat Gulf Giants by 37 runs in the 12th fixture of the ILT20 2025 season. The Knight Riders posted 176 runs on the board batting first after Michael Pepper slammed a half-century. In the chase, the Giants failed to build partnerships and fell 37 runs short.
Giants vs Knight Riders Highlights: Top-order fails to build partnership
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders were batting first and Kyle Mayer came out to open with Andries Gous. Despite a strong 39-run opening stand, both openers were dismissed in quick succession. Joe Clarke showed some resistance on 24 off 18 balls. Clarke tried to flick an arm ball from Aayan Khan towards the leg side. However, the ball deflected off his pads to uproot his leg stump.
Giants vs Knight Riders Highlights: Michael Pepper’s fifty powers ADKR to a decent total
While the top order failed to build partnerships, Michael Pepper scored a gritty half-century to score 57 off 35 balls. Once again, the middle and lower order failed to score more than 20 runs individually. Hence, due to the lack of firepower, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders finished with 176 runs total. For Gulf Giants, Aayan Khan stood out with four wickets in his four-over spell and conceded just 14 runs. Muzarabani also chipped in two wickets to restrict the Knight Riders.
Giants vs Knight Riders Highlights: Gulf Giants’ top order fails to convert good starts
The Gulf Giants also struggled to build partnerships in the second inning. Adam Lyth was dismissed by David Willey, resulting in an early breakthrough in the powerplay. James Vince, the captain, holed out to Willey off Ibrar Ahmed’s deceptive delivery and lost his wicket after just 14 off 9 balls. While Ibrahim Zadran added a crucial 24 off 22 balls, he couldn’t convert it into a big score. Sunil Narine unravelled his magic to clean up Zadran’s stumps.
Giants vs Knight Riders Highlights: Ali Khan dismantles ADKR middle order
The Gulf Giants’ middle order collapsed and failed to score more than 25 runs individually. Ali Khan chipped crucial wickets to remove Shimron Hetmyer and Mark Adair. Jason Holder also scalped two wickets as the required run rate soared for the Giants. The team eventually fell short of 37 runs to suffer a humiliating defeat.