APL 2018, Match 17, Balkh Legends vs Nangarhar Leopards, Match Prediction: Who will win the Match?

This is a must-win game for the Leopards.

Published - 16 Oct 2018, 17:00 IST | Updated - 16 Oct 2018, 17:00 IST

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Only four league matches are remaining in the inaugural edition of the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) and the top four are yet not finalised. While the Balkh Legends have confirmed their place in the knockouts, the Nangarhar Leopards and Kandahar Knights are fighting it out for the fourth spot. The latter side will be playing their last league game on Wednesday against the Legends and it is a must-win encounter for them to distance themselves from the bottom-placed Knights.

The Leopards’ campaign has fallen away drastically after starting the season with a resounding victory. Nothing has gone well for them and their gun player Andre Russell‘s fitness has been like a mystery for them who joined the team late and bagged a duck in the only game he has played so far. Ben Cutting needs to infuse some energy and most importantly lead from the front which he hasn’t been able to in the last few matches.

Mohammad Nabi will be happy with his team’s progress so far and the move of resting the main players also worked well for them in the last game. Chris Gayle is firing as well while the local talent like Darwish Rasooli has put their hand up whenever the team has needed. The team possesses a lot of firepower in their kitty and they will look to give more games to the fringe players before the semi-finals.

Pitch and Weather

There are no prizes for guess regarding the weather in Sharjah. With the match being played under the sun, the teams will have to deal with the temperatures hovering in the high 30s. The trend has strangely changed in the last few days as far as the doubleheaders are concerned. The afternoon matches are high-scoring now and the same might happen in this game as well.

Team Combinations

Balkh Legends

The Legends have already qualified for the knockouts and keeping that in mind they tried their bench strength in the last game. The same group is likely to get a nod for this game as the team went on to post a record 244 in the previous game. An unchanged XI is expected to take the field for the legends.

Probable XI: Chris Gayle, Dilshan Munaweera, Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Nabi (c), Malcolm Waller, Gulbadin Naib, Mirwais Ashraf, Ikram Ali Khil (wk), Ben Laughlin, Qais Ahmad, Abdullah Mazari

Nangarhar Leopards

It is high time for the Leopards batsmen to notch up the runs and the likes of Anton Devcich and Najeeb Tarakai will have to fire at the top. The bowling attack looks sorted out a little bit but they should be ready with the plans on a flat pitch as yet another high-scoring game is on the cards. Nathan Rimmington might come into the contention who bowled well in the only game he’s played so far.

Probable XI: Anton Devcich, Najeeb Tarakai, Johnson Charles, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Shafiqullah Shafiq (wk), Ben Cutting (c), Naveen-ul-Haq, Sandeep Lamichhane/Nathan Rimmington, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Zahir Khan