Balkh Legends beat Kandahar Knights by 13 runs to secure their second win in the Afganistan Premier League. They now top the points table winning two in two matches. Kandahar Knight fell short of the target 166 set by Legends, credit to the excellent bowling from Naib picking up four wickets for just 12 runs in four overs which rewarded him with the player of the match award.
Knights who opted to bowl first didn’t manage to restrict the dangerous batsmen Colin Munro as he unleashed his shots in the powerplay overs. Munro and Usman Ghani added 48 runs in 5.3 overs before he got run out for 19. Munro on the other end continued to play his shots and scored a 24-ball 46 runs with four boundaries and three sixes. Karim Janat gave the Knights a breakthrough as he dismissed the dangerous Munro. The hero of the first match Ryan ten Doeschate couldn’t repeat his performance and fell after making 13 runs. Ravi Bopara anchored the innings with 34, Nabi and Nabi gave him the support to take them to a competitive total in the end.
Knights had a decent start adding 39 runs for the first wicket in 4.3 overs. Paul Stirling was the first one to go after scoring 20 off 12 balls. Wicketkeeper-batsman Sadiq followed him back to pavilion in the next ball. Naib was the man accounted for both the wickets. McCullum and Captian Asghar then tried to rebuild the innings but Naib once again struck with McCullum’s wicket in the ninth over. McCullum scored 31 in his 29 ball innings. The Knights middle order collapsed after that and Asghar didn’t get enough support to chase down the target. Aftab Alam dismissed the Knights captain for 45 off 32 balls. They were restricted to 119 -7 in 17.1 overs. The pair Amir Hamza and Shirzad added 33 runs for the eighth wicket in just 17 balls but was not enough to take their team over the finishing line.
Kabul Zwanan will take on Nangarhar Leopards in the sixth match of the league in Sharjah.
