APL 2018: Match 1, Kabul Zwanan vs Paktia Panthers – Statistical Highlights

The Afghanistan Premier League T20 (APL) kick-started with a high scoring game between the Kabul Zwanan and Paktia Panthers at the Sharjah Cricket Ground. Some aggressive batting display from Mohammad Shahzad (67) and Sikandar Raza (78) helped Paktia post 218/4 in their 20 overs. In response, Kabul kept losing wickets but they also kept the scoreboard moving along. Laurie Evans anchored the chase with an unbeaten 40-ball 78 to take his team past the target with three wickets and five balls to spare.

All the stats and numbers recorded during the high-scoring thriller to begin the APL:

1 – Number of totals higher than Kabul Zwanan’s 220/7 and Paktia Panthers’ 218/4 in the Twenty20 format in UAE. Ireland’s 225/7 in 2013 against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi stands are the highest total in this country. The previous highest T20 total in Sharjah was 215/6 by Afghanistan against Zimbabwe in 2016.

3 – As many as three players hit five and more sixes in this game: Five by Mohammad Shahzad, seven by Sikandar Raza and six by Laurie Evans. Only on four occasions, as many as four players hit five or more sixes in a T20 match including two such instances in this year’s CPL.

0/27 – Rashid Khan’s bowling figures in this game. In the previous five T20 innings with the ball, Rashid Khan claimed 16 wickets by taking at least three wickets every time.

29 – A total of 29 sixes were hit during this game; 14 by Paktia and 15 by Kabul. These are the most number of sixes in a T20 game in UAE surpassing 26 sixes hit during the PSL game between Quetta Gladiators and Lahore Qalandars in the 2017 edition.

55 – Runs Shahid Afridi conceded in his four overs in this game. These are the most number of runs he conceded in a Twenty20 match. In the 275 T20 matches Afridi played before this game, he conceded more than 50 runs only once.

He conceded 51 runs in his four overs during the 2015 CPL game while playing for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots against the Guyana Amazon Warriors.

219 – The run chase by Paktia Panthers is the second highest successful run chase in the T20 format in Asia. England chased down the 230-run target set by South Africa in the 2016 World T20 game in Mumbai.

438 – The aggregate of 438 in this game is the highest in any T20 game in UAE. The 2014 IPL game between KXIP and CSK played at Abu Dhabi aggregated 411 runs. The previous highest in a T20 game in Sharjah was 402 runs during the 2017 PSL game between Quetta Gladiators and Lahore Qalandars.

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