Afghanistan Premier League

The Afghanistan Premier League (Pashto: د افغانستان غوره لیګ; Persian: لیگ برتر افغانستان), officially Gulbahar Afghanistan Premier League for sponsorship reasons, was a Twenty20 cricket franchise tournament run by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), held in the United Arab Emirates.^[1][2])^[3] The only tournament took place between 5 and 21 October 2018 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium,^[4][1] with up to forty overseas players involved.^[5][6] Five teams were selected to compete, named after regions of Afghanistan.^[7] In August 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) approved plans for the tournament.^[8]

Afghanistan Premier League

Countries	Afghanistan
Administrator	Afghanistan Cricket Board
Format	Twenty20
First edition	League
Latest edition	2018
Tournament format	Double round-robin and Knockout
Number of teams	5
Current champion	Balkh Legends (1st title)
Most successful	Balkh Legends (1 title)
Most runs	Mohammad Shahzad (344)
Most wickets	Isuru Udana (17)
Website	aplt20.tv

In September 2018, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that they would not give No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to the active Pakistani players.^[9] In October 2018, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) denied to give NOCs to Mohammad Mithun and Soumya Sarkar.^[10]

Balkh Legends won the title, after beating Kabul Zwanan by four wickets in the final.^[11][12]

History

The Afghanistan Cricket Board have said that they are planning to re-launch the Afghanistan Premier League, country's franchise-based T20 tournament that was postponed after the inaugural edition, in 2025.^[13]

Teams

Balkh Legends Kabul Zwanan Kandahar Knights Paktia Super Kings Nangarhar Leopards Location of Afghanistan Premier League teams

Team	City	Region	Coach	Captain
Balkh Legends	Mazar-i-Sharif	North	Simon Helmot	Mohammad Nabi
Kabul Zwanan	Kabul	Central	Heath Streak	Rashid Khan
Kandahar Knights	Kandahar	Southwest	Kabir Ali	Asghar Afghan
Nangarhar Leopards	Jalalabad	East	Venkatesh Prasad	Ben Cutting
Paktia Super Kings	Khost, Loya Paktia	Southeast	Dawlat Ahmadzai	Shahid Afridi

Squads

The following squads were announced for the tournament:^[14]

Balkh Legends	Kabul Zwanan	Kandahar Knights	Nangarhar Leopards	Paktia Panthers
Mohammad Nabi (c) Chris Gayle Colin Munro Ravi Bopara Aftab Alam Gulbadin Naib Mohammad Irfan Ben Laughlin Kamran Akmal Qais Ahmad Usman Ghani Ikram Alikhil Ryan ten Doeschate Tariq Stanikzai Asadullah Matani Farhan Zakhil Samiullah Darwish Rasooli Mohammad Nawaz Dilshan Munaweera Malcolm Waller Mirwais Ashraf Abdullah Mazari	Rashid Khan (c) Luke Ronchi Hazratullah Zazai Colin Ingram Fareed Ahmad Javed Ahmadi Sohail Tanvir Laurie Evans Wayne Parnell Shahidullah Ali Khan Muslim Musa Afsar Zazai Zahir Shehzad Fitratullah Khawari Shawkat Zaman Usman Adil Zamir Khan Nasir Totakhil Nijat Masood Younas Ahmadzai	Asghar Afghan (c) Wahab Riaz Brendon McCullum Paul Stirling Najibullah Zadran Karim Janat Tymal Mills Sam Billings Iftikhar Ahmed Amir Hamza Karim Sadiq Sayed Shirzad Mohammad Naveed Waqar Salamkheil Abdul Baqi Waqarullah Ishaq Waheedullah Shafaq Nasir Jamal Kevin O'Brien Taskin Ahmed Soumya Sarkar Mohammad Mithun Munir Ahmad Riki Wessels	Ben Cutting (c) Tamim Iqbal Mujeeb Ur Rahman Andre Russell Shafiqullah Najeeb Tarakai Mitchell McClenaghan Mushfiqur Rahim Mohammad Hafeez Rahmat Shah Naveen-ul-Haq Zahir Khan Sandeep Lamichhane Fazalhaq Farooqi Imran Janat Khaibar Omar Sayed Nasratullah Fazal Niazai Ibrahim Zadran Andre Fletcher Johnson Charles Anton Devcich Hashmatullah Shahidi Nathan Rimmington	Mohammad Shahzad (c) Thisara Perera Shahid Afridi Cameron Delport Sharafuddin Ashraf Samiullah Shinwari Chris Jordan Faheem Ashraf Luke Wright Azmatullah Omarzai Rahmanullah Gurbaz Zia-ur-Rehman Calum MacLeod Yousuf Zazai Fazal Zazai Ihsanullah Sikandar Raza Isuru Udana Ziaur Rahman Yamin Ahmadzai Mohammad Sardar Seekkuge Prasanna Tahir Khan

Overall season results

Balkh Legends beat Kabul Zwanan by four wickets in the league's only final, played at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Rashid Khan was the player of the tournament.^[15]

League stage

Points table

Team[16]	Pld	W	L	NR	Pts	NRR
Balkh Legends	8	6	2	0	12	+0.782
Paktia Panthers	8	5	3	0	10	+0.144
Kabul Zwanan	8	4	4	0	8	–0.070
Nangarhar Leopards	8	3	5	0	6	–0.582
Kandahar Knights	8	2	6	0	4	–0.226

• The top four teams qualified for the playoffs
•   Advanced to Semifinals

Matches

All times are in Afghanistan Standard Time (UTC+04:30).

The following fixtures were confirmed in September 2018.^[17]

5 October 2018 20:30 (D/N) Scorecard

Paktia Panthers 218/4 (20 overs)	v	Kabul Zwanan 220/7 (19.1 overs)
Sikandar Raza 78* (40) Zahir Shehzad 2/36 (4 overs)		Laurie Evans 79* (39) Tahir Khan 2/20 (2 overs)

Kabul Zwanan won by 3 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Izatullah Safi (Afg) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) Player of the match: Laurie Evans (Kabul Zwanan)

• Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to field.
• Zahir Shehzad (Kabul Zwanan) made his T20 debut.

---

6 October 2018 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Kandahar Knights 139/9 (20 overs)	v	Nangarhar Leopards 142/4 (18.3 overs)
Karim Janat 39 (39) Ben Cutting 5/28 (4 overs)		Shafiqullah 35* (20) Karim Sadiq 1/5 (1 over)

Nangarhar Leopards won by 6 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Farooq Khan (Afg) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) Player of the match: Ben Cutting (Nangarhar Leopards)

• Kandahar Knights won the toss and elected to bat.
• Waqar Salamkheil (Kandahar Knights) made his T20 debut.
• Ben Cutting (Nangarhar Leopards) took a hat-trick.

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6 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Kabul Zwanan 176/6 (20 overs)	v	Balkh Legends 177/2 (18.5 overs)
Laurie Evans 64 (47) Mohammad Nabi 2/20 (4 overs)		Ryan ten Doeschate 78* (46) Rashid Khan 1/24 (4 overs)

Balkh Legends won by 8 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Izatullah Safi (Afg) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) Player of the match: Ryan ten Doeschate (Balkh Legends)

• Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to field.

---

7 October 2018 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Paktia Panthers 184/8 (20 overs)	v	Nangarhar Leopards 163/6 (20 overs)
Mohammad Shahzad 53 (21) Ben Cutting 3/25 (4 overs)		Ben Cutting 71 (39) Isuru Udana 2/28 (4 overs)

Paktia Panthers won by 21 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Farooq Khan (Afg) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) Player of the match: Ben Cutting (Nangarhar Leopards)

• Paktia Panthers won the toss and elected to bat.
• Azmatullah Omarzai (Paktia Panthers) made his T20 debut.

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7 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Balkh Legends 165/5 (20 overs)	v	Kandahar Knights 152/7 (20 overs)
Colin Munro 46 (24) Karim Janat 1/19 (3 overs)		Asghar Afghan 45 (32) Gulbadin Naib 4/12 (4 overs)

Balkh Legends won by 13 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) and Izatullah Safi (Afg) Player of the match: Gulbadin Naib (Balkh Legends)

• Kandahar Knights won the toss and elected to field.

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9 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Nangarhar Leopards 188/5 (20 overs)	v	Kabul Zwanan 191/3 (17.5 overs)
Anton Devcich 94* (58) Shahidullah 1/10 (1 over)		Hazratullah Zazai 124 (55) Zahir Khan 1/20 (3.5 overs)

Kabul Zwanan won by 7 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) Player of the match: Hazratullah Zazai (Kabul Zwanan)

• Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to field.

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10 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Paktia Panthers 204/4 (20 overs)	v	Balkh Legends 167 (19 overs)
Cameron Delport 70* (48) Gulbadin Naib 2/46 (4 overs)		Mohammad Nabi 40 (15) Isuru Udana 4/38 (4 overs)

Paktia Panthers won by 37 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) Player of the match: Cameron Delport (Paktia Panthers)

• Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to field.
• Ziaur Rahman (Paktia Panthers) made his T20 debut.

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11 October 2018 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Kabul Zwanan 173/6 (20 overs)	v	Kandahar Knights 171/7 (20 overs)
Laurie Evans 57* (29) Sayed Shirzad 3/36 (4 overs)		Asghar Afghan 52 (32) Shahidullah 2/18 (4 overs)

Kabul Zwanan won by 2 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Ahmed Shah Durrani (Afg) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) Player of the match: Shahidullah (Kabul Zwanan)

• Kandahar Knights won the toss and elected to field.

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11 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Balkh Legends 143/7 (20 overs)	v	Nangarhar Leopards 118 (19.1 overs)
Ryan ten Doeschate 35 (27) Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/19 (4 overs)		Anton Devcich 48 (44) Mirwais Ashraf 4/19 (4 overs)

Balkh Legends won by 25 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) Player of the match: Mirwais Ashraf (Balkh Legends)

• Nangarhar Leopards won the toss and elected to field.

---

12 October 2018 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Paktia Panthers 127 (18.2 overs)	v	Kandahar Knights 118 (19.4 overs)
Sikandar Raza 51 (42) Sayed Shirzad 4/19 (3.2 overs)		Karim Janat 27 (23) Isuru Udana 3/19 (4 overs)

Paktia Panthers won by 9 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) Player of the match: Isuru Udana (Paktia Panthers)

• Paktia Panthers won the toss and elected to bat.

---

12 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Nangarhar Leopards 182/5 (20 overs)	v	Kabul Zwanan 167/9 (20 overs)
Anton Devcich 77 (46) Wayne Parnell 2/47 (4 overs)		Luke Ronchi 50 (31) Rahmat Shah 3/25 (4 overs)

Nangarhar Leopards won by 15 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Izatullah Safi (Afg) Player of the match: Rahmat Shah (Nangarhar Leopards)

• Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to field.

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13 October 2018 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Balkh Legends 195/4 (20 overs)	v	Paktia Panthers 106 (15.2 overs)
Ryan ten Doeschate 74* (41) Sikandar Raza 1/12 (2 overs)		Rahmanullah Gurbaz 33 (22) Ravi Bopara 3/17 (3 overs)

Balkh Legends won by 89 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) Player of the match: Ryan ten Doeschate (Balkh Legends)

• Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to bat.

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13 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Kandahar Knights 136/8 (20 overs)	v	Nangarhar Leopards 110 (19.3 overs)
Karim Janat 40* (21) Mujeeb Ur Rahman 4/16 (4 overs)		Shafiqullah 23 (9) Waqar Salamkheil 3/20 (4 overs)

Kandahar Knights won by 26 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Durrani (Afg) Player of the match: Karim Janat (Kandahar Knights)

• Kandahar Knights won the toss and elected to bat.

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14 October 2018 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Balkh Legends 244/6 (20 overs)	v	Kabul Zwanan 223/7 (20 overs)
Chris Gayle 80 (48) Fareed Ahmad 2/48 (3 overs)		Hazratullah Zazai 62 (17) Ben Laughlin 3/37 (3 overs)

Balkh Legends won by 21 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) Player of the match: Chris Gayle (Balkh Legends)

• Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to bat.

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14 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Nangarhar Leopards 126 (20 overs)	v	Paktia Panthers 129/3 (14.4 overs)
Rahmat Shah 32 (38) Ziaur Rahman 3/27 (4 overs)		Mohammad Shahzad 78* (43) Sandeep Lamichhane 2/23 (4 overs)

Paktia Panthers won by 7 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) Player of the match: Mohammad Shahzad (Paktia Panthers)

• Nangarhar Leopards won the toss and elected to bat.

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16 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Kandahar Knights 152/5 (20 overs)	v	Kabul Zwanan 153/6 (19.1 overs)
Asghar Afghan 60 (31) Fareed Ahmad 2/40 (4 overs)		Laurie Evans 32* (31) Karim Janat 3/14 (4 overs)

Kabul Zwanan won by 4 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) Player of the match: Rashid Khan (Kabul Zwanan)

• Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to field.

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17 October 2018 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Balkh Legends 133/7 (20 overs)	v	Nangarhar Leopards 134/4 (18 overs)
Ravi Bopara 35 (32) Naveen-ul-Haq 2/21 (4 overs)		Andre Fletcher 48 (22) Qais Ahmad 3/19 (4 overs)

Nangarhar Leopards won by 6 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) Player of the match: Andre Fletcher (Nangarhar Leopards)

• Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to bat.

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17 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Paktia Panthers 167/7 (20 overs)	v	Kandahar Knights 168/6 (20 overs)
Samiullah Shinwari 65 (43) Sayed Shirzad 3/36 (4 overs)		Asghar Afghan 74 (42) Ziaur Rahman 3/40 (4 overs)

Kandahar Knights won by 4 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Izatullah Safi (Afg) Player of the match: Asghar Afghan (Kandahar Knights)

• Paktia Panthers won the toss and elected to bat.

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18 October 2018 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Kandahar Knights 141/9 (20 overs)	v	Balkh Legends 142/4 (17.5 overs)
Brendon McCullum 50 (33) Mirwais Ashraf 3/24 (4 overs)		Chris Gayle 73 (22) Waqar Salamkheil 2/21 (4 overs)

Balkh Legends won by 6 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Ahmed Shah Durrani (Afg) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) Player of the match: Chris Gayle (Balkh Legends)

• Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to field.
• Samiullah (Balkh Legends) made his T20 debut.

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18 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Kabul Zwanan 168/4 (20 overs)	v	Paktia Panthers 172/4 (19.4 overs)
Colin Ingram 83* (51) Isuru Udana 2/33 (4 overs)		Mohammad Shahzad 62 (27) Wayne Parnell 2/33 (3.4 overs)

Paktia Panthers won by 6 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) Player of the match: Mohammad Shahzad (Paktia Panthers)

• Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to bat.
• Usman Adil (Kabul Zwanan) made his T20 debut.

Playoffs

	Semifinals					Final
	1	Balkh Legends	235/5 (20 overs)
	4	Nangarhar Leopards	64 (13.1 overs)
						1	Balkh Legends	138/6 (18.1 overs)
						3	Kabul Zwanan	132/9 (20 overs)
	2	Paktia Panthers	102 (14.5 overs)
	3	Kabul Zwanan	192/9 (20 overs)

Semifinal 1

19 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Balkh Legends 235/5 (20 overs)	v	Nangarhar Leopards 64 (13.1 overs)
Darwish Rasooli 78 (45) Ben Cutting 2/38 (4 overs)		Andre Fletcher 13 (13) Mohammad Nabi 4/12 (3.1 overs)

Balkh Legends won by 171 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) Player of the match: Mohammad Nabi (Balkh Legends)

• Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to bat.

Semifinal 2

20 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Kabul Zwanan 192/9 (20 overs)	v	Paktia Panthers 102 (14.5 overs)
Colin Ingram 44 (27) Shahid Afridi 2/25 (4 overs)		Shahid Afridi 27 (16) Rashid Khan 4/20 (3.5 overs)

Kabul Zwanan won by 90 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afg) Player of the match: Rashid Khan (Kabul Zwanan)

• Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to bat.

Final

21 October 2018 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Kabul Zwanan 132/9 (20 overs)	v	Balkh Legends 138/6 (18.1 overs)
Javed Ahmadi 32 (19) Qais Ahmad 5/18 (4 overs)		Chris Gayle 56 (34) Wayne Parnell 3/35 (4 overs)

Balkh Legends won by 4 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Ahmed Shah Pakteen (Afg) Player of the match: Qais Ahmad (Balkh Legends)

• Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to bat.

Statistics

Most runs

Player	Team	Runs
Mohammad Shahzad	Paktia Panthers	344
Hazratullah Zazai	Kabul Zwanan	322
Chris Gayle	Balkh Legends	315
Laurie Evans	Kabul Zwanan	305
Ryan ten Doeschate	Balkh Legends	274

• Source: Cricinfo^[18]

Most wickets

Player	Team	Wickets
Isuru Udana	Paktia Panthers	17
Sayed Shirzad	Kandahar Knights	16
Qais Ahmad	Balkh Legends	15
Mirwais Ashraf	Balkh Legends	14
Wayne Parnell	Kabul Zwanan	13

• Source: Cricinfo^[19]