APL 2018, Match 11, Kabul Zwanan vs Nangarhar Leopards Review: Leopards register a much-needed win

With two wins in the tally, Nangarhar steered themselves well clear of their nearest competitors, the Kandahar Knights.

Published - 13 Oct 2018, 10:08 IST | Updated - 13 Oct 2018, 10:08 IST

2 Min Read

Not many expected the Nangarhar Leopards to outsmart the rampant Rashid Army, but as it turned out, some terrific individual performances helped them do so and they registered two very crucial points. With two wins in the tally, they steered well clear of their nearest competitors, the Kandahar Knights.

Batting first, the Leopards got off to a dream start with Anton Devcich and Windies veteran Johnson Charles smacking the bowlers to all parts in the powerplay. The former has been in great form this tournament and he continued the good work with yet another fifty to his name.

Charles and Devcich added 115 runs in 11.3 overs before the latter got dismissed. After him, Charles too got dismissed in the very next over and the scoring rate dipped. Hashmatullah Shahidi and Ben Cutting chipped with a few boundaries, but they clearly fell 15-20 runs short of their target.

They eventually registered 182 runs on the board losing 5 wickets. Devcich’s 77 and Charles’ 43 were the only notable contributions from Cutting’s side. Wayne Parnell was pretty expensive on the day, but he picked up two big wickets.

Kabul fail to cash in on their openers’ brilliance

It was an action-replay of the first innings in Sharjah as once again, the openers got off to breathtaking start, only to see their middle order bottle all the advantage. This time, it was another Kiwi Luke Ronchi accompanied by Hazratullah Zazai and the duo got to the 80-run mark inside six overs.

Whilst Zazai went after his countrymate Naveen-ul-Haq, Ronchi smashed Mitchell McClenaghan to all parts and the 183-run target for a while looked small. But after the powerplay was done, Cutting introduced Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rahmat Shah, who changed the course of the game completely.

There was a flurry of wickets as they lost Hazratullah, Javed Ahmadi and Colin Ingram in a span of 17 runs. Ronchi kept fighting at the other end, but eventually succumbed to the pressure and was sent back by Rahmat Shah. Some sensational death overs bowling ensured the Zwanan remained well clear of the target.

Eventually, all they could manage was 167 runs on the board for the loss of 7 wickets. Mujeeb and Rahmat Shah chipped in with three wickets each, but for his incredible effort in the death overs, the latter was adjudged the player of the match.