Maiwand Champions Wins the Ahmad Shah Abdali First Class Tournament 2023

Maiwand Champions (366 & 58/3) won the sixth edition of the Ahmad Shah Abdali First Class Tournament by defeating the Hindukush Strikers (334 & 87) by 7 wickets in the grand finale of the event this morning at the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Cricket Stadium in Nangarhar Province. 

Maiwand Champions won the toss and opted to field first. In their opening inning, the Hindukush Strikers scored 334 runs. Aftab Alam (83*), Darwish Rasooli (80), Shabir Noori (65), and Naveed Zadran each hit half-centuries, and together they helped their team score 334 runs in the first inning. Mujeeb Zadran (3/85), Ijaz Ahmad (2/13) and Mohammad Ibrahim (2/66) shared 7 wickets between them. 

Imran Mir's century (112) and half-centuries from Ijaz Ahmad (70) and Nasir Jamal (67) helped the Maiwand Champions score 366 runs and take a 33-run lead in the first inning. Naveed Zadran (2/85) returned with two wickets for the strikers, while Aftab Alam (3/70) and Kamil Kakar (3/94) each picked up three wickets for the Hindukush Strikers.

The Maiwand Champions only needed to score 56 runs to win the championship after bundling the Hindukush Strikers out for only 87 runs in the second inning, courtesy of some incredible new-ball bowling by Nasim Mangal (5/25) and strong supportive role by Mohammad Ibrahim (2/48) and Arab Gul Momand (2/8). The Maiwand Champions were down to 5/3 in the second over, but Abdul Hadi (35*) and Mohammad Asif (14*) maintained their composure to lead their team home by 7 wickets in the final.

Nasim Mangal (1/89 & 5/25) was awarded as the player of the match. Aftab Alam (183 runs & 26 wickets) was adjudged as the best player of the event. Abdul Malik (621 runs) was declared the best batter, Naveed Zadran with 33 wickets was awarded as the best bowler whereas Arab Gul Momand with 24 wickets was named as the emerging player of the event, who put on an incredible performance in his debut first-class event. 

Four teams competed in a double round-robin format over the course of 45 days in the 6th edition of the Ahmad Shah Abdali First Class Tournament, which began on September 10 in Khost and Nangarhar provinces. Based on their superior performances in the first phase, the Hindukush Strikers (94 Points) and the Maiwand Champions (73 Points) proceeded to the final, which resulted in the Maiwand Champions being crowned champions at the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Cricket Stadium in Nangarhar Province.