Ryan ten Doeschate’s brilliant performance with the bat helped Balkh Legends beat Kabul Zwanan comprehensively by eight wickets in the third game in Afganistan Premier League. Batting first, Kabul posted a 176/6 in their 20 overs powered by Laurie Evans and Rashid Khan’s efforts with the bat. Ghani, Ryan and Ravi Bopara led the chase comfortably as they scored the winning run in the penultimate over.
Kabul didn’t have the best start of their innings with both the openers back in the pavilion in the third over. Ronchi and Zazar failed to score as they departed for 11 and 7. Colin Ingram fell soon for 9 leaving Kabul 32-3 in the 5th over. Ahmadi and Evans added 41 runs for the 4th wicket. Ahmadi departed scoring 21 and Kamal followed him back in the hut. Evans scored 64 off 47 balls and Rashid’s Khan brilliant cameo, in the end, took them to a competitive total in 20 overs. Rashid remained unbeaten for 27-ball 56-run with five sixes in his innings. Mohammad Nabi was the pick of the bowlers for Legends picking up two wickets for 20 runs in his four overs. Ravi Bopara has been expensive giving away 53 runs in his spell.
Legends had a decent start for their chase with 29 runs before the explosive opener Colin Munro departed for just seven runs as his opening partnership with Usman Ghani came to an end in the fifth over. Ryan joined Ghani had a solid partnership of 59 for the second wicket. Ravi Bopara who had an expensive outing with the ball came out all guns firing with the bat as he scored 38 off 21 balls. He had an unbeaten partnership of 89 runs with Ryan ten Doeschate for the third wicket which saw the Legends finishing the match comfortably in the penultimate over. Ryan Played brilliantly for his 46-balls 78-run which included four sixes and seven boundaries. He is also the player of the match for his excellent batting.
Nangarhar Leopards will take on Paktia Panthers in the fourth match at Sharjah International Stadium on 7th October 2018.
