At the IPL 2026 Auction, Liam Livingstone reacted with a 48-ball 76 as Abu Dhabi Knight Riders defeated Desert Vipers by a slim one-run margin the night after securing an INR 13 Crore deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Vipers were then well-positioned to cross the finish line after Max Holden and Fakhar Zaman gave them a strong start in the chase. However, Knight Riders, led by Andre Russell and Ajay Kumar, defended 17 in the final two overs to record their second victory in six games and give their opponents their first loss in seven games.
With 53 from a dominant powerplay by Holden and Zaman, the Vipers were off to a great start. Zaman provided the Vipers with a strong foundation after Holden hit his fifty off 41 balls. Before Holden was hit by a short-of-length delivery from Russell, the two scored 97. The chase was maintained by Zaman and Hasan Nawaz, but the former left six short of a fifty, giving Russell his second wicket.
Knight Riders reached 181/5 thanks to Livingstone’s knock, which featured six fours and three sixes.
The Vipers needed 47 off 30 balls after 15 overs, creating a frantic closing stretch. Even though Olly Stone went for eighteen in the eighteenth over, Ajay Kumar recovered effectively in the last moments after being smacked for two sixes by Nawaz. The game came down to the last ball, and Knight Riders won by a thrilling one run. Vipers needed a boundary, but Tom Bruce missed a slower delivery and was given a bye instead.
The Knight Riders, who chose to bat earlier, got off to a rough start when both of their openers fell cheaply. Khuzaima Tanveer caught Michael Pepper behind off Lockie Ferguson for four, and Phil Salt was trapped leg before wicket for a first-ball duck. With two sixes and a few boundaries, Alex Hales tried to steady the innings but was dismissed by Ferguson after a solid 18 off 25 balls, leaving Knight Riders at 43/3 at the end of the powerplay.
At that moment, Alishan Sharafu and Livingstone joined forces to stabilise the vessel. After forming a 50-run partnership slowly at first, the two accelerated as the innings went on. Rutherford joined Livingstone and launched a fierce attack in the last overs following Sharafu’s dismissal for 39 off 35. In the final five overs, the pair added 69 runs, with Rutherford hitting four boundaries and a couple of sixes. Livingstone scored fifty runs off of 37 balls and remained until the innings’ penultimate delivery, when the Knight Riders scored 24 runs in the final two overs to achieve 180+.
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