APL 2018, Match 19, Balkh Legends vs Kandahar Knights Review: Gayle-storm blows the Knights out of the tournament

After some intense drama and action in the last few days, the Kandahar Knights have finally confirmed their fate in the inaugural edition of the Afghanistan Premier league. Unfortunately for them, they will have to wait another year to reach the final four stage as Chris Gayle’s incredible knock helped the Legends win their final group game with ease.

Batting first, the star in the last few games, skipper Asghar Afghan got off to a poor start. Paul Stirling too didn’t get going and took a lot of deliveries to set himself up. Both players got out in a very disappointing way, putting the side under deep trouble at 36/2 in 7.2 overs.

But after all the wait, Brendon McCullum finally fired for the Knights. He chipped in with a brilliant half-century, rolling back the good old days. He smashed 50 off 33 balls, which included 3 fours and 4 sixes. He stitched a brilliant partnership with Riki Wessels, who stood firmly against a rampant Balkh bowling attack.

Mirwais Ashraf and Samiullah Shenwari chipped in with crucial spells as the Legends managed to restrict Kandahar to just 141 runs in a virtual knockout game. The pitch looked good for batting and to register a win from here was always going to be a difficult task for Asghar Afghan’s team.

Universe Boss takes toll and knocks the Knights out

This is the exact innings the APL had waited to witness from Gayle. After smashing 16 runs off the very first over, he accumulated 21 runs in the 3rd over from Karim Sadiq. He took the destruction to another level as Sayed Shirzad went for a whopping 24 runs in the fifth over courtesy the Gayle-storm.

He completed a fifty in double-quick time in just 16 balls. By the end of the powerplay, the Legends already had scored 85 runs and Gayle had contributed 73 out of them. Karim Janat dismissed him off on the first ball of the 7th over, denying the big man would’ve been his 22nd T20 century.

Chinaman spinner Waqar Salamkheil then chipped in with a couple of quick wickets and raised some hopes for the Knights. But the required rate had already fallen under five, which in T20 sense, is a walk in the park no matter what the situation is.

Ryan ten Doeschate and Ravi Bopara batted sensibly from this juncture to take the Legends to their 6th win of the tournament. Bopara fell just 3 runs before they got over the line, but Doeschate stayed till the end and took his side home.

Brief Scores

Kandahar Knights: 141/9 in 20 overs (Brendon McCullum 50; Mirwais Ashraf 3/24)

Balkh Legends: 142/4 in 17.5 overs (Chris Gayle 73, Ryan ten Doeschate 27*; Waqar Salamkheil 2/21)

Player of the match: Chris Gayle

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