APL 2018: Match 13, Kandahar Knights vs Nangarhar Leopards Review: Knights register their first win to stay alive in the contest

A wait that lasted for a pretty long time has finally come to an end for the Kandahar Knights, who managed to register their first win in the APL 2018. This now puts them slightly in contention to not finish at the bottom, but for them to get to the knockout phases would take a miracle from here.

Batting first, they never looked like getting a big total on board right from the outset. Not one of their top five batsmen registered double-digit scores, which summed up how catastrophic their performance was. Mujeeb was the chief tormentor, who picked up three wickets with the new ball and broke their backbone.

In the 6th over, Nathan Rimmington sent Nasir Jamal back, which saw the Knights finish the powerplay with the scorecard reading 21/4. Young Zahir Khan joined the act as well to send their skipper Asghar Afghan back. Riki Wessels and Najibullah Zadran did some consolidation here and added 41 runs for the 6th wicket.

But after that, Karim Janat dismantled the bowlers in the last few overs, smacking a sensational 21-ball 40 out of the blue. His knock helped them fetch 136 runs in their 20 overs and gain some momentum going into the second innings. Mujeeb was undoubtedly the star of the show till that point, who returned with figures of 4/16.

Karim and Waqar steer the Knights to victory

After doing a great job with the bat, Karim Janat left his mark with the ball as well. Mohammad Naveed picked up a wicket off the second ball of the innings and after a few overs, a struggling Johnson Charles gifted his wicket to Karim Janat.

Although Shafiqullah Shafiq scored a few boundaries and raised some hopes, he played a silly shot off a ball that kept low, which eventually led to his dismissal. In came the 17-year-old left-arm chinaman bowler Waqar Salamkheil in the middle overs, to absolutely destroy the Leopards with his amazing skill.

He first picked up the prized scalp of skipper Ben Cutting, before sending Rahmat Shah and Nathon Rimmington back to the pavilion. His spell tore their middle order apart and from 63/5, they lost their next four wickets in a span of 24 runs.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman clobbered a couple of boundaries, in the end, to ensure they got past the 100-mark, but once Salamkheil came into the act, the Leopards looked baffled and out of the picture. Karim Janat deservingly picked up the Player of the Match award for his all-round blitzkrieg.

Brief Scores

Kandahar Knights: 136/8 in 20 overs (Karim Janat 40*; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 4/16)

Nangarhar Leopards: 110 all out in 19.3 overs (Waqar Salamkheil 3/20, Karin Janat 2/19, Mohammad Naveed 2/10)

Kandahar Knights win by 26 runs. 

Player of the match: Karim Janat