Twitter Reactions: Ryan Ten Doeschate helps the Balkh Legends to begin their campaign on a high

Balkh Legends have begun their Afghanistan Premier League (APL) campaign with a victory over Kabul Zwanan. They chased down the total of 177 runs rather comfortably thanks to a stunning assault from the Dutch veteran Ryan Ten Doeschate who remained unbeaten on 78 runs off just 46 deliveries. He was well supported by Ravi Bopara as the opposition bowlers looked clueless with the dew making their life even more difficult. A thumping eight-wicket victory will give the Legends a lot of confidence when they play their next game on the very next day.

After being invited to bat first, Zwanan got off to a worst possible start with both their openers, Hazratullah Zazai and Luke Ronchi, going back to the hut within the first three overs. Legends’ skipper Mohammad Nabi led from the front and took the new ball only to shatter the stumps of the latter. Even Colin Ingram failed to stamp his authority and soon Kabul were reduced to 32/3.

However, Laurie Evans, the last match’s hero, and Javed Ahmadi calmed things in the middle and stitched a 41-run stand off 36 balls. Just when they were set to launch the assault, Ahmadi was nipped out by Gulbadin Naib and Shahidullah Kamal also failed to leave his side reeling at 76/5 in the 12th over.

The arrival of Rashid Khan though gave a hope to Kabul as Evans and he played sensibly for the next five overs. Everything was going according to the plan for Balkh but the death overs played spoilsport for them. Some poor execution from their bowlers yielded as many as 75 runs for Zwanan in the last 4 overs. Rashid Khan was special in his assault over Ravi Bopara as he took the bowler for 28 runs.

Kabul eventually finished on 176/6 after 20 overs courtesy their skipper who remained unbeaten 56 off just 27 balls. The credit should also be given to Evans raced his way to 64 when all seemed lost for his team.

Ten Doeschate helps Legends ace the chase

The chase began on a sour note for the Legends as they lost Colin Munro early. He was cleaned up by Rashid off the first delivery of his spell. However, Usman Ghani and Ryan Ten Doeschate approached the chase differently. They played out the mystery spinner calmly and attacked the other bowlers. The 59-run stand kept them ahead in the game and even the wicket of the former didn’t slow things down.

Ghani was exceptional in his hitting and scored 40 runs with four boundaries and a solitary six before getting out. Ravi Bopara only had to play second fiddle to the in-form Dutch veteran. He was bludgeoning the ball like anything and the pressure got to the Zwanan bowlers who simply couldn’t execute their plans. Rashid bowled four different plans to bring his side in the game but he was manoeuvred cleverly for singles and defending the total became increasingly difficult.

They won easily in the end with eight wickets in hand and a sensational death overs effort from Evans and Rashid went in vain. Their total proved to be well below par which, at one stage, looked enough.

Here’s how Twitter reacted during the course during the match:

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