Leopards outwit Legends to stay in hunt
sharjah — The Nangarhar Leopards stayed in the hunt for a semifinal berth after beating table toppers Balkh Legends by six wickets in the Gulbahar Afghanistan Premier League (APL) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Leopards finished their league engagements with three wins from eight matches, while it was only the second loss for the Legends in seven fixtures.
Leopards opener Andre Fletcher, playing his first game in the APL, had the wheels on for the 134-run chase by carting the Legends bowlers. The West Indian had raced to 35 from just 16 deliveries following off-spinner Mohammad Nabi’s over, with the captain leaking 27 in the fifth over. The sequence read: 1, 4, 6, 4, 6, 6.
But Fletcher was to fall, just two runs short of a half-century, caught by Darwish Rasooli off Gulbadin Naib. His partner Anton Devich made 14 but Johnson Charles and Rahmat Shah all fell for single figures, all three victims of 18-yearold leg-spinner Qais Ahmed.
But left-hander Hashmatullah Shahidi (31 not out) and Shafiqullah Shafiq (27 not out) saw the Leopards through with two overs to spare.
Earlier, with the Legends having already coasted through to the play-offs, rested the ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle with Colin Munro joining Dilshan Munaweera to open the batting.
But the new combination didn’t fare well enough with Munaweera and Munro out cheaply, for one and nine respectively. Rasooli too followed Munro soon enough but after making a 22-ball 27 with five boundaries. Ravi Bopara then joined Ryan ten Doeschate to bring normalcy to proceedings. Doeschate held it together briefly with 23 from 26 balls with two boundaries after which Bopara made 35, the innings top score, from 32 deliveries, with two boundaries and a six.
Old fox Mirwais Ashraf threw his bat around for an 11-ball 17 with two boundaries and a six as the Legends finished up at 133 for seven. Medium pacers Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazal Niazai and left-arm chinaman, the 19-year-old Zahir Khan picked up two wickets apiece.