The ILT20 season continues on Thursday when we go back to Sharjah for the huge clash between the Sharjah Warriorz and the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, one which could go a long way to determining the fate of these two sides.
These teams are among the three on six points lodged in fourth to sixth in the table so the winners here take a huge step towards the finals while the losers will have to do a lot of work and have luck on their side to make it through.
Sharjah Warriorz
Sharjah Warriorz go into this match on bottom of the pile and with two matches to lift themselves up into the top four. The problem they have is a much more negative net run rate than their rivals around them so one win from their last two games might not be enough to get the job done. If one win is going to be enough then it needs to be a monster win and this might just be the ground where they could achieve that. Winning is the immediate aim but it could be that the Warriorz look to win as big as they can if the opportunity arises.
The Warriorz ended a run of four straight defeats with a win which was about as emphatic as all of the ones that they need to come out with from here on in last time out and they will be looking for similar here. Their bowlers really came to the party in that match and anything that they can do to keep the run rate down here would be helpful. It might be more relevant that the top three finally did the job for Sharjah against the Capitals and a repeat of that would certainly be welcome.
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders currently occupy the final spot in the top four as we head into the final week of the regular season and they have a game in hand of the other two sides chasing them down so they are in pole position as it stands to extend their campaign. A win here would pretty much get them over the line when you consider that they go third in the table if they come out on top and would play the other two sides who would be below them in the standings in their last two.
The Knight Riders certainly have an all or nothing look about them this season. That is probably to be expected when you consider that their West Indian all-rounders very much fit that mould. They have the ability to blow any team away if that batting unit fires like it can do and on this ground it could do some serious damage. The test will be for their bowlers and whether they can come up with the goods but the Knight Riders won the reverse meeting easily enough and will be confident of doing the same here.
Special Offer
Open a new Sporting Index account and bet £10 on the tournament (min odds 1/2) to get £20 in free bets (2x£10 free bets) to use on any sports market! Click the image below to take advantage of this great offer! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Responsibly.
Key Players
Johnson Charles came to the party in a big way in the last match for the Sharjah Warriorz and they will be hoping that he can get the innings off to a similar start here because if he does then that net run rate repair job could be on.
We are still waiting for Kyle Mayers to really turn up and deliver what he can do in this tournament. As someone who opens the batting and the bowling he has the potential to fire Abu Dhabi Knight Riders into life and set the match up for them.
Betting
I don’t think it will be a surprise to anyone that I’m al about the sixes in this match. This ground is basically a magnet for them with the small boundaries and the usually decent batting tracks but there is so many other reasons to like them than that here. The obvious one being that there are some serial hitters of a cricket ball on show in the form of Johnson Charles, Andre Russell, Kyle Mayers, Charith Asalanka, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Avishka Fernando and many others.
We haven’t had a match here since Sunday so there should be no issue with the pitches and although the last game here was shy of sixes, that turned into a very tense affair between the bottom two in the table. I don’t see this being the same because the Knight Riders only know one way of playing and that is to get everything out of the park. When you add in the need for Sharjah to sort out their net run rate if they are batting second I think all things being equal the even money on over 14.5 sixes looks good to me. The reverse meeting between these two saw 159 play 129 in Abu Dhabi and there were 10 sixes then. I’m expecting half as many again here.
Tips
Back Over 14.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Boylesports
Back it here: