Mis-e-Ainak Region Wins the Mirwais Neka Regional Three-Day Tournament 2023

Mis-e-Ainak Region put on an incredible all-round performance to beat the Amo Region by 191 runs in the final to win the 3rd edition of the Mirwais Neka Regional Three-Day Tournament 2023. 

The Event featured five-regional teams and commenced on May 28 at two venues in Nangarhar province. Each side played four games in the round-robin format and after five round of matches, the Mis-e-Ainak region with 54 points, and Amo region with 41 points respectively secured the top two spots in the table and made it to the Grand Finale of the event. 

The final which was played on a four-day format, kicked off on Saturday, June 17 at the Najibullah Taraki Cricket Ground in Jalalabad, and ended today with the Mis-e-Ainak region lifting the prize, after beating the Amo Region by 191 runs on the final day of the match. 

Mis-e-Ainak Region won the toss in the final and opted to bat first. Abdullah Zadran (93), Khalid Zahidi (68) and Rafiullah Sadiq (66) scored half-centuries to help their side post 335 runs in the first inning. Azim Zadran (5/96), on the other hand, picked a fifer, whereas Khair Mohammad (2/46) and Kamil Kakar (2/73) returned with two wickets each.

In reply, Abdul Hadi (83*) and Mohammad Shahzad (80) struck half-centuries but lost 7 wickets for just 52 runs in the process as they were bundled out for 255 runs and were trailed by 80 runs. Khalil Gurbaz (6/49) picked six wickets whereas Rafi Sadiq returned with figures of 3/38 in the first inning. 

Mis-e-Ainak, banking on a fighting 148* by Barakatullah Ibrahimzai, added 264 runs in their 2nd inning to set a target of 345 runs for Amo Region. Amo Region couldn’t resist in the 4th inning as they only managed to score 153 runs in the 4th inning to lose the game by 191 runs. 

Barakatullah Ibrahimzai, who scored 42 and 148* in the final, was awarded as the player of the match. He was also awarded as the best batter of the tournament for scoring 491 runs in 9 innings at 98.20, with 2 hundreds and a half-century to his name. 

Left-arm spinner Khair Mohammad was awarded the best bowler of the tournament for picking 24 wickets in 10 innings at 24.16 and an economy rate of 3.95 with a 4-for and a 5-for to his name. 

Mis-e-Ainak Region’s young fast-bowling all-rounder Rafiullah Sadiq had an incredible debut season as he scored 382 runs in 8 innings at 54.57, with 1 hundred and 3 fifties to his name. He also went on to pick 11 wickets in 8 innings at 31.54 with an economy rate of 3.57 and was awarded as the best player of the Tournament. 

On the other hand, Jan Mohammad, who scored 398 runs in 6 innings at 79.59 with 2 centuries and a half-century, was awarded the emerging player of the Mirwais Neka Regional Three-Day Tournament 2023. 

Mis-e-Ainak Region put on an impressive performance in the entire event and remained the only unbeaten team in the Mirwais Neka Regional Three-Day Tournament 2023. This was the 1st multiday and the 5th overall domestic event of the year which will be followed by Ahmad Shah Abdali First Class and the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One-Day Tournament in the upcoming months.