MIS-E AINAK KNIGHTS CROWNED SHPAGEEZA 2019 CHAMPIONS

Wazirzai Mis-e Ainak Knights overcame a tense Final over to emerge as the Champions of Shpageeza Cricket League 2019 beating Defending Champions Band-e Amir Dragons by 4 wickets in the tournament’s Final at a packed Kabul Cricket Stadium.

Home Media International 19 Oct 2019

MIS-E AINAK KNIGHTS CROWNED SHPAGEEZA 2019 CHAMPIONS

Knights’ skipper Mohammad Nabi won the toss in the morning of the Final and opted to bowl first in a cloudy day at Kabul. The Dragons posted 154/7 in the allotted 20 overs as Imran Janat, Shawkat Zaman and Afsar Zazai scored 32, 27 and 22 runs respectively. Knights’ Sharafuddin Ashraf, who was declared the Man of the Match, bowled brilliantly taking 31/2 in his four overs while Naveen ul Haq took three wickets giving away 41.

In response, the Knights’ opening duo of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Noor Ali gave yet another great opening partnership adding 71 runs. Gurbaz scored 36 earning him the Stylish Player of the match award while Zadran top-scored with 42. Skipper Nabi played a valuable knock of 30 before Sharafuddin Ashraf and Ihsanullah Janat took the Knights home in the penultimate Ball of the match.

This is Knights’ second Shpageeza Cricket League title with their first triumph being in 2014.

Kabul Eagles’ all-rounder Karim Janat was declared The Best Player of the tournament. Janat scored 317 runs with the bat including the highest individual score in the league’s history (120) and the most sixes (23) this season.

Knights’ senior batsman Noor Ali Zadran was declared the Best batsman of the tournament as he topped the batting charts with 354 runs at a fantastic average of 70.8 in 7 matches.

Band-e Amir Dragons’ Nijat Masood was adjudged the Best bowler of the tournament for his 11 wickets including a match-winning 22/5 against Bost Defenders.

Mis-e Ainak Knights’ young left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad was declared as the Emerging Player of the tournament. Ahmad took 8 wickets in 7 matches at a fantastic economy of 6.4 RPO.

Shpageeza Cricket League is Afghanistan’s premier domestic T20 Tournament. The sixth season the competition was held from 7th to 18th October 2019 at Kabul Cricket Stadium.