Naib rates spell against Kandahar as his best
sharjah — Gulbadin Naib rated his miserly bowling figures of 4-012-4 on Sunday night against Kandahar Knights as his best T20 spell so far. The right-arm medium-fast bowler was instrumental in Balkh Legends recording their second successive win in the Afghanistan Premier League.
After being invited to bat, Balkh Legends posted 165 for 5. It should have been a gettable target for Kandahar, who were searching for their first victory in two matches. Paul Stirling and Brendon McCullum gave them a brisk start with a 39-run partnership.
The Irish-New Zealand pairing picked Aftab Alam for 15 runs which ran alarm bells in the Legends camp. Skipper Mohammad Nabi at once threw the ball to Naib and the 27-year-old delivered. First he removed Stirling, then in his next over forced McCullum to hole out to Darwish Rasooli at long on and with his next delivery rapped Karim Sadiq on the pads in front of the stumps.
In his fourth over he shattered Kevin O’Brien’s stumps with a ball that found its gap between bat and pad to nip Kandahar’s hopes of a win.
Speaking to the media after the match, Naib said this was his best bowling performance in a T20 match. “It was definitely my best bowling so far in T20s.”
Naib said he stuck to his plan when bowling to Stirling and McCullum. “Stirling and McCullum were going great but my plan was to just bowl wicket to wicket to them, especially to McCullum and not give him too much width. Also, my captain (Nabi) told me not to give half volleys or bowl short to McCullum as he tends to play the pull shot very well.”
Among the four batsmen, Naib cherished the wicket of McCullum’s. “That way all wickets are special for me. All these players are big names so it’s a dream for me. I used to watch McCullum on TV and today I got his wicket so it’s very special.”
Meanwhile, Kandahar Knights coach Kabir Khan refused to blame captain Asghar Afghan for winning the toss and electing to field.
“I think it was the right decision to win the toss and bowl. But I think we made quite a few mistakes in the field. I thought it was a good wicket but I think our batsmen gave it away quite easily. We could have done better.
“We need to go back to the drawing board and look at options but I think we are a good side and there are still six games to go so we hope the guys will take positives from here.”
Khan blamed the defeat on an all-round poor show.
“I don’t think there are any weaknesses in the team. We are not playing as good as we can, we batted badly, dropped a few catches, there were times we misfielded so these simple mistakes at this level are quite costly.”
That way all wickets are special for me. All these players are big names so it’s a dream for me. I used to watch McCullum on TV and today I got his wicket so it’s very special Gulbadin Naib