APL 2018, Match 2, Kandahar Knights vs Nangarhar Leopards, Match Prediction: Who will win the match, Kandahar Knights or Nangarhar Leopards?

Afghanistan Premier League (APL) is all set to commence on Friday and the second day of the tournament will witness a doubleheader. Kandahar Knights led by Asghar Afghan will be pitted against Nangarhar Leopards who will be led by Ben Cutting as their regular skipper Andre Russell will arrive on October 9. The first games are going to be interesting as the teams will look to find out their respective best combinations.

The Knights will have Afghanistan’s skipper Asghar Afghan at the helm who is known to lead the side really well and is experienced. He will be assisted by some of the international superstars in Brendon McCullum, Kevin O Brien among a few more. The fact that this team has a decent number of overseas players puts them in the best position with the tournament going deep in the near future. However, the management would love to put their best foot forward in their opening game itself.

Leopards also match strength to strength to the Knights. Venkatesh Prasad has been appointed the head coach of the side and he will have to handle his troops well. Ben Cutting has been picked to lead the side as of now and the fact that Andre Russell is playing gives them the edge in both the departments. Also, the presence of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Sandeep Lamichhane, the mystery spinners, makes the bowling strong for the Nangarhar.

Team Combinations

Kandahar Knights

The overseas contingent of Paul Stirling and Brendon McCullum will open for the Knights and then the batting order could be shuffled according to the match situation. The likes of Najibullah Zadran, Asghar Afghan, Nasir Jamal and Kevin O Brien form a perfect T20 middle-order. Karim Janat is a capable number seven batsman but is known for his for his bowling more. Mohammad Naveed and Sayed Shirzad are the other two pacers in the team while Amir Hamza will look to trouble the batters with his left-arm spin.

With the presence of a lot of overseas cricketers, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Mithun are likely to sit out for this encounter. Maybe they will be used for the upcoming games.

Probable XI: Paul Stirling, Karim Sadiq, Brendon McCullum, Asghar Afghan(c), Najibullah Zadran, Ashish Bagai (wk), Karim Janat, Tymal Mills, Amir Hamza, Sayed Shirzad, Mohammad Naveed

Nangarhar Leopards

The overseas contingent looks good for Leopards as well. Anton Devcich, Andre Fletcher and skipper Ben Cutting should look to take the team over the line. Also, better national team players in Rahmat Shah, Shafiqullah Shafaq, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman give them an upper hand on the paper at least. The bowling attack boasts of Zahir Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq and Mitchell McClenaghan as well. Though they will miss Andre Russell who will join the team a few days later.

Probable XI: Anton Devcich, Najeeb Tarakai, Andre Fletcher (wk), Rahmat Shah, Shafiqullah Shafiq, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ben Cutting (c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Zahir Khan, Mitchell McClenaghan

Probable Top performers

Paul Stirling – Kandahar Knights | Mujeeb Ur Rahman – Nangarhar Leopards

The prediction is for Nangarhar Leopards to begin their season on a high with a clinical victory

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