Photo Credit: Afghanistan Cricket Board
The Ayobi Kabul Eagles became the Champions of Etisalat 4G Shpageeza Cricket League, winning the coveted title for the second time, after they beat Hazrat Ltd. Mis-e Ainak Knights in a thrilling contest by 9 runs at the Kabul Cricket Stadium.
The Ayobi Kabul Eagles became the Champions of Etisalat 4G Shpageeza Cricket League, winning the coveted title for the second time, after they beat Hazrat Ltd. Mis-e Ainak Knights in a thrilling contest by 9 runs at the Kabul Cricket Stadium.
The Hazrat Ltd. Mis-e Ainak Knights won’t the toss earlier in the day and opted to field first in the Final of the tournament. The Eagles lost quick wickets at the beginning as skipper Rahmanullah Gurbaz, his opening partner Noor Ali Zadran and youngster Riaz Hassan were back to the pavilion within the first 2 overs. Dawlat Zadran took the wickets of Noor Ali and Gurbaz in the very first over of the innings while Hassan was caught lbw by Ibrahim Khan.
The wickets continued to fall at regular intervals for the Eagles courtesy of some brilliant bowling by the Knights. Younas Ahmadzai and Samiullah Shinwari with 36 and 32 runs respectively for the Eagles while Nangialay Kharoti and Azmatullah Omarzai provided a late flourish as the Eagles were all out for 139 in the final over.
In response, The Hazrat Ltd. Mis-e Ainak Knights were all out for 130 in 19.4 overs as the Kabul Eagles bowling line up shined at the big stage. Nijat Masood and Nangialai Kharoti took 2 wickets each while the rest took one apiece while Ghamai Zadran and Shahidullah were the top performers with the bat for the Knights scoring 40 and 26 runs respectively.
The Eagles’ all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai was declared the joint winner of the Player of the tournament award alongside Bost Defenders’ Karim Janat. Further awards in the tournament included Best Emerging Player trophy to Nangialai Kharoty, Best Batsman for Usman Ghani and Best bowler for Waqar Salamkheil.
The seventh edition of Shpageeza Cricket League was held from 6th to 16th September at Kabul Cricket Stadium.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) is the governing body for cricket in Afghanistan. It joined the ICC in 2001, became an associate member in 2013, and a full member in 2017. The ACB is also part of the Asian Cricket Council.
