The six Afghan players taking part in the Hero CPL this season are Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Najibullah Zadran and Zahir Khan, all of whom were due to take part in the Shpageeza Cricket League, their domestic T20 competition.
However, following discussions between the CWI President Ricky Skerritt and the ACB Chairman Farhan Yusefzai, an agreement was reached to allow the players to stay on until CPL has finished.
“We understand the importance of the Shpageeza Cricket League to the ACB and the reasons why it had to be scheduled during the CPL after the NOCs were all issued. We truly appreciate the Chairman of the ACB allowing these six Afghan players to stay at the Hero CPL until its conclusion,” said Pete Russell, Hero CPL’s COO.
“Afghan players have had a huge impact on our competition, both this season and in previous years, and we are very grateful to have them with us until the final on September 10.
“I would also like to put on record our thanks to CWI’s President and CEO for taking the time to resolve this situation, which has shone a light on the issues leagues such as CPL face with the current NOC policy and system.”Mo
Patriots captain Rayad Emrit chose to bowl, but while Sheldon Cottrell and Sohail Tanvir started tightly to Rakheem Cornwall, Andre Fletcher was able to pick up boundaries off both. Cornwall retired ill in the third over, and while Mark Deyal started with a Hero Maximum first ball, he should have fallen off his third when Ben Dunk missed a slip catch off Jon-Russ Jaggesar. Jaggesar’s frustration grew when Kieran Powell stepped on the rope while trying to complete a juggling catch.
The Zouks were quick to take advantage, Fletcher taking a liking to Tanvir and Deyal, peppering the leg-side off Jaggesar to power the Zouks to 64/0 off the Powerplay. The onslaught continued as the field went back, with Deyal launching his third Hero Maximum to bring up the 50 stand off just 27 balls.
Ish Sodhi took a good juggling catch at mid-off to dismiss Deyal off Emrit’s first ball. The Patriots captain foxed Najibullah Zadran with an array of slower balls, but the Afghan powered a pair of reverse sweeps off Sodhi and the legspinner was frustrated when Fletcher was dropped again on 38. Another Najibullah four saw the Zouks motor to 91/1 at halfway.
Jaggesar finally got his man when Fletcher picked out deep midwicket. With the Zouks so well set, it was a surprise to see the anchorman Roston Chase come into bat, and he fell to a spitting Jaggesar carrom ball before he could make much of an impression. Tanvir picked up Najibullah and Sammy caught behind in the same over, and at 123/5 in the 15th the Zouks were in danger of wasting a good platform.
Cornwall was well enough to return but hit only one boundary before he was freakishly run out. A Nabi leading edge spun back onto the bowlers’ stumps with Cornwall backing up looking for a run, and Emrit had ample time to complete the run-out.
Nabi showed his class with two huge Hero Maximums off Tanvir, one of which went literally out of the ground. Another flurry off the 20th took the Zouks to an imposing 172-6 despite their mid-innings stutter.
Nabi was back in the action immediately, bowling an excellent first over to Chris Lynn and Evin Lewis. Saad bin Zafar was not so accurate - when he dropped short Lynn pulled, and when he overpitched Lewis drove and paddle-swept - but a stunned Lynn had to depart when Najibullah sprung magnificently to take the catch of the tournament so far.
Lewis toyed with Scott Kuggeleijn, dispatching a Hero Maximum over square leg and paddling the follow-up slower ball very fine for four. But it was the New Zealander who was waiting at long-on when the recalled Joshua Da Silva toe-ended a straight hit off Chase. Kesrick Williams, bowling a rare Powerplay over, mixed up good and bad and the Patriots ended the Powerplay at 52/2.
Chase continued to impress, the ominous Lewis edging a cut to the keeper off a quicker ball. With Obed McCoy also accurate, Sammy was able to ramp up the pressure on Denesh Ramdin and Ben Dunk, and despite Ramdin’s Hero Maximum last ball before the drinks break, the Patriots needed 9.5 an over off the last 10. Dunk succumbed to the pressure, missing a sweep and giving Chase a third wicket of a fantastic spell. Tight overs from Williams and Nabi pushed the required run rate up above 11, and Powell, Ramdin, Tanvir and Emrit all fell trying to slog Kuggeleijn.
The Patriots’ keeper deserves credit for a good lone hand, and Cottrell launched a few lusty blows to narrow the margin of defeat, but other than their mid-innings batting wobble the Zouks were in control throughout, and with their well-stocked spin attack could be a force later in the tournament if the pitches tire as expected. The Patriots meanwhile have work to do if they’re not to be cut adrift.
Charles made a 21-ball 40 opening the batting including four fours and two sixes while skipper Powell, batting at five, hit 35 off just 15 balls including one four and four sixes to help the Bulls post an intimidating 126-6 off their 10 overs after being put in to bat.
Englishman James Vince also showed good form with 37 off 14 balls. Obed McCoy and Junaid Siddique had identical figures of 2-18 from two overs.
Chennai’s chase then came up significantly short, being bowled out for just 61 in 8.5 overs.
Only Mohammad Nabi was able to crack double figures with 25 as Fazalhaq Farooqi (2-8 from two overs), Muhammad Rohid (2-14 from two overs), Naveen-ul-Haq (2-22 from two overs) and Ravi Bopara (2-4 from five balls) combined to produce an excellent display of bowling.
After Zouks’ captain Daren Sammy put them in, the Patriots had yet to score when Nabi dismissed both Chris Lynn and Nick Kelly. Lynn continued his run of being dismissed by spinners, pushing a simple catch back to the bowler, and Kelly edged to the safe hands of Rakheem Cornwall at slip.
Nabi soon made it four. Denesh Ramdin sought to follow a Hero Maximum over long-on with one over square leg but top-edged to Najibullah Zadran, and next ball Patriots leading scorer of Hero CPL 2020, Evin Lewis, spooned a sweep to Roston Chase at square leg to leave the Patriots 11/4 off just 3 overs and Nabi on a hat-trick.
Chase’s introduction with the ball was not a surprise, and he went for just three off his first over. Jahmar Hamilton just about survived the hat-trick ball, but he and Ben Dunk managed no further boundaries as the Patriots reached the Powerplay at 22/4.
Another tight over came and went, this time from Zahir Khan. Dunk finally broke the drought as Chase overpitched, sending the off-spinner high over the sightscreen. Oddly, after eight overs the Patriots had hit two Hero Maximums but no fours.
That block-block-slog approach brought Hamilton’s downfall, as he prodded at a Zahir googly and edged behind. Cornwall closed out the first half of the innings well, and at drinks, the Patriots were 43/5 with a lot resting on Dunk once more.
Dunk hit Zahir straight for a third Hero Maximum but should have been stumped in the same over. After 13 overs, Dunk had 32 of the Patriots’ 59/5, and the pressure on him finally told as Cornwall’s extra bounce saw the Australian splice a pull to deep midwicket.
Even a Mark Deyal full toss didn’t result in the match’s first four. After 15 overs the Patriots were 66/6, and it got worse as Nabi returned to complete his five-for - remarkably, the first of his 10-year and 264-game T20 career - as Tanvir scooped a sweep to Zahir at short fine-leg.
Kesrick Williams came on for the 18th, off which captain Rayad Emrit took for 14 including, at long last, a four. Emrit fell next over, Deyal taking a running catch at long-on, but Kuggeleijn dropped short off his last ball and Alzarri Joseph sent him into the stands. Imran Khan sacrificed himself to get Joseph on strike, and the Antiguan responded with a second Hero Maximum. 37 off the last 3 overs, all bowled by seam, only delayed the inevitable.
The Patriots surprisingly started with seamer Tanvir, who Cornwall hammered for two fours and two towering Hero Maximums. Emrit gave Jon-Russ Jaggesar an aggressive field, but Jaggesar’s first ball was poor and Fletcher cut it easily for four. Cornwall smashed Imran clean over the roof, and while he was bowled two balls later, the fact that he alone hit more fours and almost as many boundaries than the entire Patriots team told the story.
After a brief shower, the Zouks resumed needing just 81 at well under 5 an over, which made Deyal’s hoick the first ball all the stranger. Emrit took a good catch to leave Imran on a hat-trick, which the ever-calm Chase denied him comfortably.
With Cornwall having taken the pressure off, the Zouks found strike rotation easy, and that relaxed feel gave Fletcher confidence to smash Jaggesar into the top of the Carib stand to end the Powerplay at 47/2. The opener’s dismissal was a surprise when it came with a pull straight to midwicket, giving Imran a third wicket.
Najibullah reverse-swept two fours and good running meant Imran’s last over went for seven. Emrit brought himself on, but Chase and Najibullah took him four a boundary apiece, and the Zouks cruised to 79/3 at halfway.
A desperate Emrit turned to Dunk’s part-time off-spin - so part-time Dunk bowled in his sunhat - which Najibullah smashed for four as the over went for eight. Najibullah dished out further punishment in Dunk’s next over, lifting him for a Hero Maximum over long-off, but Dunk got a small measure of joy as the Afghan top-edged to deep midwicket.
It was Dunk’s first Hero CPL wicket, just the third of his T20 career, but it was scant consolation as the Zouks sealed the victory with 32 balls to spare without even needing Nabi to bat.
Summary: (St Lucia Zouks 111/4 (Najibullah 33, Chase 27*, Cornwall 26; Imran 3/23, Dunk 1/29) beat St Kitts & Nevis Patriots 110/9 (Dunk 33, Joseph 21*, Emrit 16; Nabi 5/15, Cornwall 1/14, Zahir 1/18) by 6 wickets)
Upcoming Fixture: Thursday 27 August - Match 16: Guyana Amazon Warriors v Trinbago Knight Riders (5:30 pm), 4:30 pm Jamaica time at the Queen’s Park Oval
On Thursday, Nabi helped the St Lucia Zouks earn their first points of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) after a 7-wicket Duckworth Lewis victory over defending champions Barbados Tridents earlier today.
Nabi first bagged 1-19 from four overs before slamming 15 off six deliveries to earn the man-of-the-match title in a significantly rain-affected game.
After restricting the Tridents to 131-7 from 18.1 overs, the Zouks benefitted from a long rain delay and only needed 47 from five overs, inclusive of two power plays.
Nabi helped the run chase along with some smart running, a big six and a smashing four.
“I don’t like interviews but because we won the game and I performed for my team, this one I like,” said Nabi during an interview with the CPL’s Alex Jordan.
Speaking about his cameo, Nabi said players like himself like having a short burst because it represents freedom to just go hard. He was also delighted to be up against teammate, Rashid Khan.
“We play for the same team most of the time, on national duties and we play on the same IPL team, so I know how Rashid will bowl to me. In the end he got me out as well though,” he said.
But when the Zouks bowled, Nabi said there was improvement after the close defeat they had against the Jamaica Tallawahs.
“This game we bowled brilliantly. It is a good start to the tournament and let’s see for our upcoming matches,” said Nabi.
The Tallawahs won the toss and opted to field first and but for the final three overs of the Amazon Warriors innings that seemed like an inspired decision.
Restricting the Amazon Warriors to 104-7 after 17 overs the Tallawahs looked in full control but Odean Smith and Keemo Paul added 74 from 27 balls to guide the Amazon Warriors to a magnificent 178-8.
The total looked beyond the Tallawahs but Brandon King led a lone charge with the first Hero CPL century of the tournament. Taking the chase down to the final over, King was dismissed with three balls to go and with that victory slipped out of The Tallawahs' reach.
Earlier the Tallawahs had taken control of the match with their cadre of spinners tying the Amazon Warriors in knots.
Other than Shai Hope who hit a sparkling 60 from 45 balls no other batter was able to get to grips with the conditions and when Gudakesh Motie fell in the 16th over to leave the Amazon Warriors 98-7 it felt like Jamaica’s game to lose.
That was until Smith and Paul produced a quite remarkable display of power hitting to blast the Amazon Warriors to an improbable total. 74 runs were plundered off the final three overs to set the Tallawahs an unlikely 179 to win.
If 179 was unlikely, Brandon King clearly did not read the script. His one-man mission to chase down the total nearly pulled off an unlikely heist. Hitting shots all over the ground King reached an unbeaten 80 from 55 balls when the rain came down to interrupt the match.
When play resumed King marched serenely to his century but he could not see the chase home falling with three balls to spare and with that the Tallawahs' hopes were extinguished.
Scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 178-8 (Hope 60, Smith 42; Nabi 3-12, Green 2-24) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 166 (King 104, Mckenzie 15; Tahir 2-17, Smith 2-26) by 12 runs.
The rain-affected fixture the Tridents posted 131 for 7 in their turn at the crease, before the showers caused a delay in the game. On the resumption, the Zouks posted 50 for 3 to win the match. Unusually, however, in attacking the Tridents early on, Sammy used eight bowlers.
Mohammad Nabi was the star with the ball, his varying pace, and reading the batsmen's intentions, gave neither right- nor left-hander any room, and he got his arm ball to deviate like a leg-cutter. Sammy bowled Nabi out early the rest of his off-spinners ripped through the Tridents’ middle order.
With the death overs approaching he went to his third off-spinner, Roston Chase, who picked up Jonathan Carter and Kyle Mayers in consecutive balls. Deyal, yet another off-spinner, became the eighth bowler used and the fifth to take a wicket as Andre Fletcher took a good catch off Raymond Reifer’s outside edge.
“Today, the mix-up with the bowlers, everyone I called on, the spinners, in the middle, they responded so that’s a good sign for us going forward,” Sammy said following the game.
“I think we have a good all-round team, today I probably used eight or seven bowlers. So, everybody is equipped for different situations. If a team has a few left-handed we have a couple of spinners to turn the ball away from them and when the team has right-handers we have the left-armers and chinaman bowlers. So, I’m really happy with the guys that we have.”
