Afghanistan Premier League: Match 4 - Nangarhar Leopards vs Paktia Panthers - Review

Paktia Panthers went on to win the fourth match of the Afghanistan Premier League as they won against Nangarhar Leopards by 21 runs. Panthers won the toss and decided to bat first. Paktia Panthers were able to put a competitive score of 184 in their allotted 20 overs. Panther’s wicketkeeper and captain Mohammad Shahzad provided a quick start to his team.

Shahzad scored a blistering knock of 53 off just 31 balls to get Paktia Panthers off to a flyer. However, his innings was ended by an unfortunate run-out. Meanwhile, Cameron Delport and Samiullah Shenwari were able to play crucial knocks in the middle stage.

Ben Cutting delivered with both bat and ball.

Delport scored 35 off just 22 balls whereas Shenwari smashed 38 off only 25 balls to power Paktia Panthers to a par score. On the other hand, Nangarhar Leopards skipper Ben Cutting continued his fine form going. Cutting who had scalped five wickets in the previous match, which also included a hat-trick, took another three-wicket haul.

However, Leopards got off to a worse possible start in their run-chase. They were tottering at 51-5 and the target looked like a speck on the horizon. However, Hasmatullah Shahidi and skipper Ben Cutting were able to come up with a fighting partnership.

They were able to add 112 runs to keep Paktia Panthers in the game. The southpaw batsman continued his good form as he scored an unbeaten 49 off just 36 balls.

However, Ben Cutting was the dominant partner as the captain raced to 71 off just 39 balls. The Australian batsman scored five fours and half a dozen sixes in his blistering knock. Thus, Ben Cutting was awarded the Player of the match for the second time in a row.

Nevertheless, Nangarhar Leopards were left with too many to get in the final overs. Thus, Paktia Panthers went on to win by 21 runs.