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Afghanistan Premier League

Afghanistan Premier League
Tournament logo
CountriesAfghanistan
AdministratorAfghanistan Cricket Board
FormatTwenty20
First edition2018
Latest edition2018
Tournament formatDouble round-robin and Knockout
Number of teams5
Current championBalkh Legends (1st title)
Most successfulBalkh Legends (1 title)
Most runsMohammad Shahzad (344)
Most wicketsIsuru Udana (17)
TVList of broadcasters
Websiteaplt20.tv
Seasons

TThe Afghanistan Premier League (APL) (Pashto: د افغانستان غوره لیګ; Persian: لیگ برتر افغانستان), officially Gulbahar Afghanistan Premier League for sponsorship reasons, was a Twenty20 cricket franchise tournament run by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), held in the United Arab Emirates.[1][2])[3] The only tournament took place between 5 and 21 October 2018 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium,[4][1] with up to forty overseas players involved.[5][6] Five teams were selected to compete, named after regions of Afghanistan.[7] In August 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) approved plans for the tournament.[8]

In September 2018, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that they would not give No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to the active Pakistani players.[9] In October 2018, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) denied to give NOCs to Mohammad Mithun and Soumya Sarkar.[10]

Balkh Legends won the title, after beating Kabul Zwanan by four wickets in the final.[11][12]

History

The Afghanistan Cricket Board have said that they are planning to re-launch the Afghanistan Premier League, country's franchise-based T20 tournament that was postponed after the inaugural edition, in 2025.[13]

Teams

class=notpageimage|
Location of Afghanistan Premier League teams
Team City Region Debut Coach Captain
Balkh Legends Mazar-i-Sharif North 2018 Australia Simon Helmot Afghanistan Mohammad Nabi
Kabul Zwanan Kabul Central 2018 Zimbabwe Heath Streak Afghanistan Rashid Khan
Kandahar Knights Kandahar Southwest 2018 England Kabir Ali Afghanistan Asghar Afghan
Nangarhar Leopards Jalalabad East 2018 India Venkatesh Prasad Australia Ben Cutting
Paktia Super Kings Khost, Loya Paktia Southeast 2018 Afghanistan Dawlat Ahmadzai Pakistan Shahid Afridi

Squads

The following squads were announced for the tournament:[14]

Balkh Legends Kabul Zwanan Kandahar Knights Nangarhar Leopards Paktia Panthers

Overall season results

Results[15]
Season Final venue Final Teams Man of the Tournament
Winner Result Runner-up
2018
Details 		Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Balkh Legends
138/6 (18.1 overs) 		Balkh Legends won by 4 wickets
Scorecard 		Kabul Zwanan
132/9 (20 overs) 		5 Rashid Khan
(Kabul Zwanan)

League stage

Points table

Team[16] Pld W L NR Pts NRR
Balkh Legends 8 6 2 0 12 +0.782
Paktia Panthers 8 5 3 0 10 +0.144
Kabul Zwanan 8 4 4 0 8 –0.070
Nangarhar Leopards 8 3 5 0 6 –0.582
Kandahar Knights 8 2 6 0 4 –0.226
  • The top four teams qualified for the playoffs
  •   Advanced to Semifinals

Matches

All times are in Afghanistan Standard Time (UTC+04:30).

The following fixtures were confirmed in September 2018.[17]

5 October 2018
20:30 (D/N)
Scorecard
Paktia Panthers
218/4 (20 overs)
v
Kabul Zwanan
220/7 (19.1 overs)
Sikandar Raza 78* (40)
Zahir Shehzad 2/36 (4 overs)
Laurie Evans 79* (39)
Tahir Khan 2/20 (2 overs)
Kabul Zwanan won by 3 wickets
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Izatullah Safi (Afg) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg)
Player of the match: Laurie Evans (Kabul Zwanan)
  • Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to field.
  • Zahir Shehzad (Kabul Zwanan) made his T20 debut.
6 October 2018
16:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Kandahar Knights
139/9 (20 overs)
v
Nangarhar Leopards
142/4 (18.3 overs)
Karim Janat 39 (39)
Ben Cutting 5/28 (4 overs)
Shafiqullah 35* (20)
Karim Sadiq 1/5 (1 over)
Nangarhar Leopards won by 6 wickets
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Farooq Khan (Afg) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg)
Player of the match: Ben Cutting (Nangarhar Leopards)
6 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Kabul Zwanan
176/6 (20 overs)
v
Balkh Legends
177/2 (18.5 overs)
Laurie Evans 64 (47)
Mohammad Nabi 2/20 (4 overs)
Ryan ten Doeschate 78* (46)
Rashid Khan 1/24 (4 overs)
Balkh Legends won by 8 wickets
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Izatullah Safi (Afg) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg)
Player of the match: Ryan ten Doeschate (Balkh Legends)
  • Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to field.
7 October 2018
16:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Paktia Panthers
184/8 (20 overs)
v
Nangarhar Leopards
163/6 (20 overs)
Mohammad Shahzad 53 (21)
Ben Cutting 3/25 (4 overs)
Ben Cutting 71 (39)
Isuru Udana 2/28 (4 overs)
Paktia Panthers won by 21 runs
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Farooq Khan (Afg) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg)
Player of the match: Ben Cutting (Nangarhar Leopards)
  • Paktia Panthers won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Azmatullah Omarzai (Paktia Panthers) made his T20 debut.
7 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Balkh Legends
165/5 (20 overs)
v
Kandahar Knights
152/7 (20 overs)
Colin Munro 46 (24)
Karim Janat 1/19 (3 overs)
Asghar Afghan 45 (32)
Gulbadin Naib 4/12 (4 overs)
Balkh Legends won by 13 runs
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) and Izatullah Safi (Afg)
Player of the match: Gulbadin Naib (Balkh Legends)
  • Kandahar Knights won the toss and elected to field.
9 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Nangarhar Leopards
188/5 (20 overs)
v
Kabul Zwanan
191/3 (17.5 overs)
Anton Devcich 94* (58)
Shahidullah 1/10 (1 over)
Hazratullah Zazai 124 (55)
Zahir Khan 1/20 (3.5 overs)
Kabul Zwanan won by 7 wickets
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg)
Player of the match: Hazratullah Zazai (Kabul Zwanan)
  • Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to field.
10 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Paktia Panthers
204/4 (20 overs)
v
Balkh Legends
167 (19 overs)
Cameron Delport 70* (48)
Gulbadin Naib 2/46 (4 overs)
Mohammad Nabi 40 (15)
Isuru Udana 4/38 (4 overs)
Paktia Panthers won by 37 runs
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg)
Player of the match: Cameron Delport (Paktia Panthers)
  • Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to field.
  • Ziaur Rahman (Paktia Panthers) made his T20 debut.
11 October 2018
16:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Kabul Zwanan
173/6 (20 overs)
v
Kandahar Knights
171/7 (20 overs)
Laurie Evans 57* (29)
Sayed Shirzad 3/36 (4 overs)
Asghar Afghan 52 (32)
Shahidullah 2/18 (4 overs)
Kabul Zwanan won by 2 runs
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Ahmed Shah Durrani (Afg) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg)
Player of the match: Shahidullah (Kabul Zwanan)
  • Kandahar Knights won the toss and elected to field.
11 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Balkh Legends
143/7 (20 overs)
v
Nangarhar Leopards
118 (19.1 overs)
Ryan ten Doeschate 35 (27)
Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/19 (4 overs)
Anton Devcich 48 (44)
Mirwais Ashraf 4/19 (4 overs)
Balkh Legends won by 25 runs
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg)
Player of the match: Mirwais Ashraf (Balkh Legends)
  • Nangarhar Leopards won the toss and elected to field.
12 October 2018
16:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Paktia Panthers
127 (18.2 overs)
v
Kandahar Knights
118 (19.4 overs)
Sikandar Raza 51 (42)
Sayed Shirzad 4/19 (3.2 overs)
Karim Janat 27 (23)
Isuru Udana 3/19 (4 overs)
Paktia Panthers won by 9 runs
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg)
Player of the match: Isuru Udana (Paktia Panthers)
  • Paktia Panthers won the toss and elected to bat.
12 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Nangarhar Leopards
182/5 (20 overs)
v
Kabul Zwanan
167/9 (20 overs)
Anton Devcich 77 (46)
Wayne Parnell 2/47 (4 overs)
Luke Ronchi 50 (31)
Rahmat Shah 3/25 (4 overs)
Nangarhar Leopards won by 15 runs
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Izatullah Safi (Afg)
Player of the match: Rahmat Shah (Nangarhar Leopards)
  • Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to field.
13 October 2018
16:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Balkh Legends
195/4 (20 overs)
v
Paktia Panthers
106 (15.2 overs)
Ryan ten Doeschate 74* (41)
Sikandar Raza 1/12 (2 overs)
Rahmanullah Gurbaz 33 (22)
Ravi Bopara 3/17 (3 overs)
Balkh Legends won by 89 runs
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg)
Player of the match: Ryan ten Doeschate (Balkh Legends)
  • Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to bat.
13 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Kandahar Knights
136/8 (20 overs)
v
Nangarhar Leopards
110 (19.3 overs)
Karim Janat 40* (21)
Mujeeb Ur Rahman 4/16 (4 overs)
Shafiqullah 23 (9)
Waqar Salamkheil 3/20 (4 overs)
Kandahar Knights won by 26 runs
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Durrani (Afg)
Player of the match: Karim Janat (Kandahar Knights)
  • Kandahar Knights won the toss and elected to bat.
14 October 2018
16:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Balkh Legends
244/6 (20 overs)
v
Kabul Zwanan
223/7 (20 overs)
Chris Gayle 80 (48)
Fareed Ahmad 2/48 (3 overs)
Hazratullah Zazai 62 (17)
Ben Laughlin 3/37 (3 overs)
Balkh Legends won by 21 runs
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg)
Player of the match: Chris Gayle (Balkh Legends)
  • Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to bat.
14 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Nangarhar Leopards
126 (20 overs)
v
Paktia Panthers
129/3 (14.4 overs)
Rahmat Shah 32 (38)
Ziaur Rahman 3/27 (4 overs)
Mohammad Shahzad 78* (43)
Sandeep Lamichhane 2/23 (4 overs)
Paktia Panthers won by 7 wickets
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg)
Player of the match: Mohammad Shahzad (Paktia Panthers)
  • Nangarhar Leopards won the toss and elected to bat.
16 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Kandahar Knights
152/5 (20 overs)
v
Kabul Zwanan
153/6 (19.1 overs)
Asghar Afghan 60 (31)
Fareed Ahmad 2/40 (4 overs)
Laurie Evans 32* (31)
Karim Janat 3/14 (4 overs)
Kabul Zwanan won by 4 wickets
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg)
Player of the match: Rashid Khan (Kabul Zwanan)
  • Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to field.
17 October 2018
16:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Balkh Legends
133/7 (20 overs)
v
Nangarhar Leopards
134/4 (18 overs)
Ravi Bopara 35 (32)
Naveen-ul-Haq 2/21 (4 overs)
Andre Fletcher 48 (22)
Qais Ahmad 3/19 (4 overs)
Nangarhar Leopards won by 6 wickets
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg)
Player of the match: Andre Fletcher (Nangarhar Leopards)
  • Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to bat.
17 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Paktia Panthers
167/7 (20 overs)
v
Kandahar Knights
168/6 (20 overs)
Samiullah Shinwari 65 (43)
Sayed Shirzad 3/36 (4 overs)
Asghar Afghan 74 (42)
Ziaur Rahman 3/40 (4 overs)
Kandahar Knights won by 4 wickets
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Izatullah Safi (Afg)
Player of the match: Asghar Afghan (Kandahar Knights)
  • Paktia Panthers won the toss and elected to bat.
18 October 2018
16:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Kandahar Knights
141/9 (20 overs)
v
Balkh Legends
142/4 (17.5 overs)
Brendon McCullum 50 (33)
Mirwais Ashraf 3/24 (4 overs)
Chris Gayle 73 (22)
Waqar Salamkheil 2/21 (4 overs)
Balkh Legends won by 6 wickets
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Ahmed Shah Durrani (Afg) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg)
Player of the match: Chris Gayle (Balkh Legends)
  • Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to field.
  • Samiullah (Balkh Legends) made his T20 debut.
18 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Kabul Zwanan
168/4 (20 overs)
v
Paktia Panthers
172/4 (19.4 overs)
Colin Ingram 83* (51)
Isuru Udana 2/33 (4 overs)
Mohammad Shahzad 62 (27)
Wayne Parnell 2/33 (3.4 overs)
Paktia Panthers won by 6 wickets
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg)
Player of the match: Mohammad Shahzad (Paktia Panthers)
  • Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Usman Adil (Kabul Zwanan) made his T20 debut.

Playoffs

Semifinals Final
      
1 Balkh Legends 235/5 (20 overs)
4 Nangarhar Leopards 64 (13.1 overs)
1 Balkh Legends 138/6 (18.1 overs)
3 Kabul Zwanan 132/9 (20 overs)
2 Paktia Panthers 102 (14.5 overs)
3 Kabul Zwanan 192/9 (20 overs)

Semifinal 1

19 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Balkh Legends
235/5 (20 overs)
v
Nangarhar Leopards
64 (13.1 overs)
Darwish Rasooli 78 (45)
Ben Cutting 2/38 (4 overs)
Andre Fletcher 13 (13)
Mohammad Nabi 4/12 (3.1 overs)
Balkh Legends won by 171 runs
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg)
Player of the match: Mohammad Nabi (Balkh Legends)
  • Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to bat.

Semifinal 2

20 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Kabul Zwanan
192/9 (20 overs)
v
Paktia Panthers
102 (14.5 overs)
Colin Ingram 44 (27)
Shahid Afridi 2/25 (4 overs)
Shahid Afridi 27 (16)
Rashid Khan 4/20 (3.5 overs)
Kabul Zwanan won by 90 runs
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg)
Player of the match: Rashid Khan (Kabul Zwanan)
  • Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to bat.

Final

21 October 2018
20:00 (D/N)
Scorecard
Kabul Zwanan
132/9 (20 overs)
v
Balkh Legends
138/6 (18.1 overs)
Javed Ahmadi 32 (19)
Qais Ahmad 5/18 (4 overs)
Chris Gayle 56 (34)
Wayne Parnell 3/35 (4 overs)
Balkh Legends won by 4 wickets
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg)
Player of the match: Qais Ahmad (Balkh Legends)
  • Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to bat.

Overall team performances

Overall team performances[18]
Team Match Win Loss Tied Tied+W Tied+L NR Win%
Balkh Legends 10 8 2 0 0 0 0 80.00%
Kabul Zwanan 10 5 5 0 0 0 0 50.00%
Kandahar Knights 8 2 6 0 0 0 0 25.00%
Nangarhar Leopards 9 3 6 0 0 0 0 33.33%
Paktia Panthers 9 5 4 0 0 0 0 55.55%
Last Updated: 5 May 2021

Statistics

Most runs

Player Team Mat Inns Runs Ave SR HS 100 50 4s 6s
Afghanistan Mohammad Shahzad Paktia Panthers 9 9 344 43.00 174.61 78* 0 4 30 27
Afghanistan Hazratullah Zazai Kabul Zwanan 10 10 322 32.20 193.97 124 1 1 34 21
Jamaica Chris Gayle Balkh Legends 7 7 315 45.00 172.13 80 0 4 25 27
England Laurie Evans Kabul Zwanan 9 9 305 61.00 142.52 79* 0 3 16 19
Netherlands Ryan ten Doeschate Balkh Legends 9 9 274 54.80 126.26 78* 0 2 21 11
  • Last Updated: 22 October 2018.
  • Source: Cricinfo[19]

Most wickets

Player Team Mat Inns Wkts Ave Econ BBI 4WI 5WI
Sri Lanka Isuru Udana Paktia Panthers 8 8 17 14.41 7.65 4/38 1 0
Afghanistan Sayed Shirzad Kandahar Knights 8 8 16 15.25 7.82 4/19 1 0
Afghanistan Qais Ahmad Balkh Legends 9 9 15 12.53 6.26 5/18 0 1
Afghanistan Mirwais Ashraf Balkh Legends 9 9 14 15.28 7.97 4/19 1 0
South Africa Wayne Parnell Kabul Zwanan 10 10 13 25.84 8.96 3/35 0 0
  • Last Updated: 22 October 2018.
  • Source: Cricinfo[20]

Broadcasters

  • Watan
  • Janeman
  • BBC sports
  • LBC

References

  1. ^ a b "Afghanistan Premier League slated for October 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Afghanistan Cricket Premier League To Be Played In UAE". Tolo News. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Gulbahar group confirmed as APL title sponsor". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  4. ^ "DSport to live broadcast APL 2018 in India". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  5. ^ "BCCI unlikely to allow Indian players from participating in newly-launched Afghanistan Premier League". First Post. 27 April 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Afghans ready with their version of T20 league". Times of India. 27 April 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Sharjah to host Afghanistan T20 League from October 5". Gulf News. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  8. ^ "ICC approves plans for Afghanistan Premier League". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Pak cricketers ask PCB to issue NOC to play in APL". The Nation. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  10. ^ "Soumya, Mithun denied NOC for APL T20". Dhaka Tribune. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  11. ^ "BALKH LEGENDS CROWNED CHAMPIONS OF APL T20 2018". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Qais Ahmed, Chris Gayle star as Balkh Legends win inaugural APL". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  13. ^ "ACB confident of relaunching APL in 2025". cricbuzz. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Gayle, Afridi, Russell: icons in Afghanistan Premier League". ESPN Cricinfo. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  15. ^ "Cricket Records | Afghanistan Premier League | Records | Series results". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Afghanistan Premier League 2018 Points Table". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  17. ^ "Schedules & Results". APLT20. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Records / Afghanistan Premier League / Results Summary". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  19. ^ "RECORDS / AFGHANISTAN PREMIER LEAGUE, 2018/19 / MOST RUNS". Cricinfo. ESPN. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  20. ^ "RECORDS / AFGHANISTAN PREMIER LEAGUE, 2018/19 / MOST WICKETS". Cricinfo. ESPN. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Afghanistan_Premier_League