APL 2018, Match 3, BL vs KZ, Review: Ryan Ten Doeschate fires Balkh Legends to a comprehensive win

Although some late fireworks from Rashid Khan steered Kabul to a big score, the Balkh Legends eventually managed to pull out a scintillating win. They bashed the winners of the opening game with relative ease, despite getting smacked to all parts in the final few overs of the first innings.

Batting first, Kabul didn’t get off to a great start. They lost three big wickets inside the first five overs but Javed Ahmadi and the hero from the first game Laurie Evans stitched a partnership that prevented their ship from sinking. They added 41 runs for the 4th wicket before Ahmadi got dismissed for 21.

Rashid Khan walked in at number seven and things started to change for the Zwanan. Rashid and Evans started steadying the innings before launching the final attack. Initially, Evans was the one being the aggressor but in the 18th and 19th over, destruction altogether went to the new levels.

24 runs came off the 18th over with Laurie Evans hitting three sixes and a four and in the 19th over bowled by Ravi Bopara, Rashid Khan smacked four sixes and a boundary to accumulate 28 runs. This late assault helped them breach the 170-run mark and eventually end up 176 runs on the board, out of the blue.

Experienced campaigners make a mockery of the chase

Rashid Khan provided the Zwanan with a brilliant start as Colin Munro was sent back very early in the innings. But that didn’t trigger any setback for the Legends as Usman Ghani played a brilliant second-fiddle to the Dutchman Ryan ten Doeschate, who took the onus on himself to deliver big innings.

He did so in a grandiose way as he kept the scoreboard ticking with boundaries and singles at regular intervals. Apart from the four overs bowled by skipper Rashid Khan, there was not much of a threat looming around the Legends, which made things easy for Doeschate to approach.

After Ghani was dismissed for a well-compiled 40, Ravi Bopara came in and the English-Dutch duo piled on the agony for Rashid and company. Things began to unravel rather quickly as both batters kept striking the ball cleanly. Doeschate completed a fifty and the required run rate was pretty much under control, with eight wickets still in hand.

Eventually, Doeschate finished with a brilliant 78 off 46 balls and Bopara did a good job to complete the game in style as the Legends annihilated the run chase with utter disdain. Rashid Khan and his Zwanan unit will now have to think of the alternatives to ensure the skipper is not the only focal point in the team.

Brief Scores

Kabul Zwanan: 176/6 in 20 overs (Laurie Evans 64, Rashid Khan 56)

Balkh Legends: 177/2 in 18.5 overs (Ryan ten Doeschate 78*, Ravi Bopara 38*, Usman Ghani 40)

Result: Balkh Legends won the game by eight wickets.

Player of the match: Ryan ten Doeschate