Giants vs KnightRiders, 16th Match at Abu Dhabi, ILT20, Jan 31 2024 - Match Result

On that note it's a wrap from us. Today's result sees the Knight Riders leapfrog the Giants into third place, who in turn drop to fourth. Tomorrow's game will see the Desert Vipers face the Dubai Capitals, so be sure to join us for that. But for now, on behalf of Chandan and the rest of the team, this is Madushka signing out.

Michael Pepper is the Player of the Match for his 59 off 40: "Always batting in the powerplay you have to take the aggressive option. The more pace on the ball almost helped, as the ball skidded through slightly. There were stages that felt nice and other stages that felt tougher - like when they started using the pitch - slower balls, pace off, cross seam. But on the whole the wicket felt okay, definitely got a little bit nicer to play on."

Sunil Narine: "We started really well picking up wickets in the powerplay, and once you do that it sets the tone for the entire 20 overs. [Willey 4 overs straight?] Like I said the key is to pick up wickets. He bowled three overs inside the powerplay, but then with an extra guy out you can afford to give him the fourth over as well. That was the plan, you try different things to see what happens. [momentum?] I think we're getting a bit of momentum, a little too close for comfort still, we just need to get bigger margins and get a bit more comfortable. But at the end of the day, a win is a win. We'll take that and move on to the next day."

James Vince: "I thought we actually had a par score. But obviously the start wasn't ideal with them being 60 for none inside the powerplay. It put us behind the game, and even though we pulled it back a bit at the end it was always going to be difficult. [The swing?] Glees (Gleeson) actually said it wasn't swinging that much for him, but then Carlos came on and struggled to control the swing a bit. So the 10-15 extras in the powerplay helped them out and got them ahead of the game and kind of took the pressure off. [the pitch?] They bowled pretty well at the end, got some yorkers in, but the feedback from the guys that had been out in the middle for a while was that there was seam and swing available. We thought if we got a couple of wickets in the powerplay, there was enough in the wicket to be able to squeeze them throughout."

Time for the post-match presentation...

10.16pm Dre Rus finishes it off in style then with a 13-ball 30, but this was a chase set up by Michael Pepper, whose 40-ball 59 included a 62-run opening stand - all of which came inside the powerplay. With a platform like that, chasing down 160 was never in much doubt. The Knight Riders were also helped by some sloppy work with the ball by the Giants, who sent down 27 extras. With the ball, a team effort had seen the Giants restricted to 159 - a fair bit below par in the end.

Potentially the last over here, maybe even the last ball...

Just 5 needed from 12 now.

Overton now. Will they go after him or see him out?

10.04pm The players are back out in the middle! Zubair to continue

10pm The heavy ropes are sweeping over the outfield, match will restart at 10.05pm

9.57pm Good news it is then, the covers are off! Play will resume shortly.

For those wondering, 122 is the DLS par score at this stage so Knight Riders well ahead on that front. Cut-off for a restart is in an hour. We'll be back soon with some good news hopefully.

9.47pm But we're going to have to wait a little bit for the conclusion as rain has entered play! Players are off the field and the covers are on.

So this is shaping up to be a closer game than expected, though have the Giants left their charge too late? 31 needed off 24 with six wickets in hand, you have to say the Knight Riders are still well in front.

Strategic timeout

Gleeson into the attack. And what's this a drizzle has popped up in Abu Dhabi