Afghanistan T20 League schedule announced

Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced the schedule of the fifth edition of Shpageeza Cricket League, their franchise based T20 competition. The league will commence from September 11 and the final will be played on 22nd September. The competition was earlier scheduled to be played in July.

Shpageeza Cricket League comprises of 6 teams who will compete in Kabul over the 12 days for the ultimate glory. The fifth edition was expected to be played between July 18 and 28 but the blast near the German Embassy in Kabul on May 31 led to the postponement of the tournament. The unfortunate incident also killed 90 people and over 400 were injured.

Players to take part in the league

All the games of the league will be played at the Kabul International Cricket Stadium with the defending champions Kabul Eagles taking on Boost Defenders in the opening match. It will be interesting to see if the Pakistan players take part in the league as the both the boards have decided to mend the cricketing ties .

All the Afghanistan players would be available to play in the league whereas there are other exciting international players who would be playing in the tournament. Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes and Sabbir Rahman from Bangladesh, Rayad Emrit from West Indies and Hamilton Masakadza, Sikandar Raza, Solomon Mire and Sean Williams from Zimbabwe are expected to feature in the league.

Despite the blasts, it is a happy moment to see that the tournament will be played and would be a huge relief for Afghanistan fans as they would be watching their heroes play in front of them. Players too will love to give their best in front of their home crowd.

The schedule of the tournament is the simple one with each team in the league will be playing the other once before the top 4 qualify for the playoffs. The knockouts will include 2 qualifiers and one eliminator followed by the mega finale to find out the crowned champions.

Schedule:

September 11: Kabul Eagles v Boost Defenders; Amo Sharks v Speen Ghar Tigers

September 12: Band-e-Amir Dragons v Mis Ainak Knights; Boost Defenders v Speen Ghar Tigers

September 13: Amo Sharks v Kabul Eagles; Boost Defenders v Mis Ainak Knights

September 14: Band-e-Amir Dragons v Speen Ghar Tigers; Amo Sharks v Mis Ainak Knights

September 15: Band-e-Amir Dragons v Boost Defenders; Speen Ghar Tigers v Kabul Eagles

September 16: Kabul Eagles v Mis Ainak Knights; Boost Defenders v Amo Sharks

September 17: Mis Ainak Knights v Speen Ghar Tigers; Band-e-Amir Dragons v Amo Sharks

September 18: Kabul Eagles v Band-e-Amir Dragons

September 20: First Qualifier

September 20: Eliminator

September 21: Second Qualifier

September 22: Final