Mujeeb Ur Rahman

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

The Amazon Warriors won the toss and opted to field first and that appeared to be the right decision. 

Taking wickets at regular intervals the Amazon Warriors made it difficult for the Royals to negotiate the conditions and only a late order rally from Jason Holder and Mujeeb Ur Rahman ensured the Royals ended with a reasonable total of 107-6 from an innings shortened to 16 overs due to rain.

However, that total proved more than enough as the Royals' bowling attack offered no freebies when the Amazon Warriors came to bat.

Led by Mujeeb and Rahkeem Cornwall they ensured the run rate become untenable as the Royals cruised to victory. Guyana Amazon Warriors’ cadre of spinners imposed themselves on the game taking all six wickets to fall in the Barbados Royals innings.

 Having reduced the Royals to 62-5 when the rain delay came, Imran Tahir then removed David Miller immediately after the restart but Jason Holder and Mujeeb Ur Rahman compiled a 39-run partnership off 16 balls to give the Royals a total to defend.

 111 to win suggested an advantage to Amazon Warriors but Mujeeb and Rahkeem Cornwall produced spell-binding bowling in the first four overs to restrict the Warriors to 12 runs for the loss of one wicket.

The Amazon Warriors couldn’t get going as a disciplined Royals bowling performance increased the pressure with a plethora of dot balls. 

 In the end, what should have been a tight game became an easy win for the Royals as they coasted to victory by 29 runs.

Scores: Barbados Royals 107-6 (Holder 40, Cornwall 20; Hemraj 3-15, Sinclair 2-12) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors 81-9 (Smith 15, Hetmyer 12; Cornwall 2-12, Simmonds 2-21) by 29 runs (DLS)

A surprise thumping at the hands of New Zealand in their opener has narrowed England’s margin for error but concerns in the lead-up to their second fixture have centred on the field of play.

Uneven grass coverage and a loose sandy make-up at the HPCA Stadium in the foothills of the Himalayas led England captain Jos Buttler to suggest “the integrity of the game” could be compromised.

Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman came close to a nasty injury on Saturday when his knee lodged in the surface as he slid to stop a boundary, with debris spraying up from the soil as he landed.

The International Cricket Council stressed the outfield was rated ‘average’ by the officials at that game, while match referee Javagal Srinath has declared himself satisfied after a fresh inspection.

But England have had two training days at the venue and are unimpressed by conditions, which appear to fall short of international norms.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Buttler said: “I think it’s poor, in my own opinion. It’s not as good as it could be or should be.

“Certainly if you feel like you’re having to hold yourself back, it’s not a place you want to be as a team, or as a player, or in a World Cup match.

“You want to dive through a row houses to save a run, so it’s obviously not ideal, the way the surface is. We won’t be using it as an excuse, we’ll just have to be a bit smart.”

He subsequently took his misgivings even further, telling the BBC: “The powers that be are comfortable, the only thing I would question is, if you are telling players not to dive and stuff does that question the integrity of the game?

“Worse case scenario is something bad happens, but fingers crossed that doesn’t happen for both teams.”

England are likely to draft left-arm quick Reece Topley into their starting XI as they ponder shifting the balance of the side to include an extra specialist seam option.

While Ben Stokes engaged in another long batting session in the nets, his second in as many days, there is no prospect of him being risked as he continues to recover from a hip injury.

England’s World Cup-winning former captain Eoin Morgan gave a wholehearted endorsement of Stokes’ importance to their title defence, given how essential he was to the cause in 2019.

Morgan believes his presence carries even more weight than it did previously, given the achievements he has racked up along the way as a T20 world champion and inspirational Test captain.

“Is he as influential as he was? Even more so I’d say,” said the Irishman, who is in India as an ICC World Cup ambassador.

“He just continues to deliver when the team needs and creates belief and confidence around that and if you play with a guy that has already crossed the finish line on numerous occasions, and speaks in straight lines and not riddles, it’s genuine.

“I think the thing that we can’t measure when it comes to Ben is how much he contributes in the changing room and how much he makes other players better around him.”

All had looked lost after Mujeeb ur Rahman and Sandeep Lamichhane had worked their magic, but Mayers smashed 29 off a Carlos Brathwaite over that proved absolutely pivotal.

Mujeeb did for both Tridents openers - an off-break turned big to trap Shai Hope LBW and a carrom ball to Johnson Charles took the edge for Tallawahs skipper Rovman Powell to take a good catch at slip.

Veerasammy Permaul, replacing Russell, started well until Kyle Mayers lofted him for six over extra cover. Mayers repeated the trick off Edwards and the Tridents reached the Powerplay at 37/2.

Holder lifted Permaul onto the rope at long-on, and Mayers took a liking to Powell in an over that went for 17. Brathwaite didn’t escape punishment as Mayers timed him over point, bringing up a 50 partnership off just 29 balls. Powell went to Lamichhane, whose googlies restricted Mayers and Holder to three off the 10th over.

At halfway, the Tridents were 79/2.

Twenty balls later, that was 90/6. Brathwaite bounced out Holder, Rashid Khan’s promotion lasted two balls as he sliced a Lamichhane leg-break to backward point, Mujeeb skidded a carrom ball onto Corey Anderson’s stumps and Lamichhane beat Ashley Nurse’s slog-sweep with a googly.

Mujeeb could have had Mayers had a close LBW shout been given or had Glenn Phillips held a catch, but with the Afghan and Nepalese combining for 5/30, little did we know how crucial that would prove.

Brathwaite disappeared to all parts as Mayers launched four Hero Maximums, and even good death bowling saw the Tridents end on a competitive looking total.

Santner started superbly, bowling Phillips as part of a wicket-maiden. Chadwick Walton flayed Holder for four and pulled him for a Hero Maximum, but the Tridents captain nicked him off with a Test match-style seaming beauty. Santner followed up with another fine over, and the Tallawahs were 13/2 after three.

Walsh Jr went for just three runs, all due to misfields including a dropped catch. Blackwood’s first boundary was a thick inside edge off Holder, and the captain’s extra bounce did for his opposite number Rovman Powell who gloved to the keeper.

At 22/3 off 5 overs, the Tallawahs were precariously placed, and that was before Rashid Khan came on for the last over of the Powerplay. The required run rate was now approaching nine an over.

Walsh Jr spilled a tough caught-and-bowled off Blackwood, but finally got his first wicket of Hero CPL 2020 as Asif holed out to long-off to plunge the Tallawahs into even deeper strife. The leg-spinner celebrated his first wicket of this CPL season with a huge roar of delight.

Ashley Nurse went for just five off two overs, and Walsh Jr beat Blackwood on both edges to leave the Tallawahs 36/4 needing 11 an over off the last 10 with three overs of Rashid still to face. In a familiar tale, the Tallawahs had failed to score off 44 of the first 60 balls.

Things seemed to be picking up after the break. Bonner pulled Walsh Jr for the first boundary in 37 balls, Blackwood joined with a Hero Maximum to put a slight dent in Walsh Jr’s figures, and the two scored off every ball of Rashid’s second over including a boundary.

But Santner’s return did the trick. Blackwood hit one big Hero Maximum over the sightscreen, but a slower ball deceived him into holing out to long-on. Rashid capped a horrible night for Brathwaite, pinning him LBW with a fast googly, and after a mini-recovery the Tallawahs were 68/6 off 14 and needed 13.5 an over.

Santner finished a brilliant spell - 20 off his 24 balls were dot balls and a Hero Maximum was his only boundary conceded. Bonner hammered Raymon Reifer for a Hero Maximum, but Permaul took nine balls to get off the mark, and with the Tallawahs needing 17.25 an over, Bonner took it upon himself to farm the strike.

Rashid ended the Tallawahs’ last faint hope, as Bonner tried to pull an unpullable ball and Anderson held the top-edge. Mujeeb deposited his countryman for a pair of Hero Maximums, but even so the required run rate at the end of the over was higher than when it started.

Mujeeb continued his fun with a reverse hook off Nyeem Young, but the youngster made a contribution taking an excellent catch diving forward at deep point to give Reifer the wicket of the scratchy Permaul.

Reifer made it two when Mujeeb tried to reverse sweep a delivery on middle stump, and in the end the only thing missing for the Tridents was a wicket for Young. Russell or no Russell, the Tallawahs batters need to find some answers fast.

After bowling out the Warriors in 19.1 overs, the Tallawahs were pegged back by the combination of brilliant bowling from the Warriors and their own failure to adjust to a pitch where the ball was sticking.

“We knew the wicket was quite tough to bat on. We felt we were 10-15 short but we have a special bowling line-up,” said Warriors captain Chris Green.

That 10-15 runs short never mattered as an all-round bowling performance where Green ended with 2-10 from three overs, Imran Tahir, 1-26, Ashmead Nedd, 1-10, Naveen-ul-Haq, 1-22, Keemo Paul, 1-33, and Chandrapaul Hemraj, 1-3 from one over, were enough to restrict the Tallawahs to 107-7.

“I am very, very disappointed but that's the nature of the game,” said Powell.

“I think both teams batted poorly, and we really need to improve our batting,” he said.

 “The positive was Russell coming to the party.”

Though disappointed, Powell was pleased to see the work of his spinners, saying he was impressed.

“Impressed with Mujeeb [Ur Rahmann] and Sandeep [Lamichhane],” he said. The two ended with figures of 3-18 and 2-8 respectively.

St Kitts & Nevis Patriots won the toss and chose to field first, with the Royals getting off to a subdued start, reaching 55-2 after 10 overs before a superb 102-run partnership between Azam Khan and Harry Tector propelled them to 156-3 after 20 overs.  In their chase, the Patriots got off to a confident start with Andre Fletcher and Evin Lewis building a platform but faltered as the wickets tumbled in the final five overs to leave them 120 all out after 20 overs, losing by 36 runs.

Barbados Royals, who have already secured a place in next week’s playoffs, got off to a very cautious start in their innings, losing openers Rahkeem Cornwall and captain Kyle Mayers in the first eight overs. Sheldon Cottrell, returning to the Patriots' side, led by example in the early overs with a disciplined performance. Yet Khan and Tector revived the Royals innings with some fantastic shot-making that helped reap 95 runs in the final eight overs to take the Royals to 156-3. 

St Kitts & Nevis Patriots had got off to a positive start, Fletcher and Lewis navigating their way through the PowerPlay, before Mujeeb ur Rahman took both wickets. The Patriots never found consistency after that, losing seven wickets in the final five overs of the game, as Mujeeb found support from Nyeem Young, who also took three wickets.

 The win means Barbados Royals continue their excellent form this season while the Patriots are outside the play-off spots with one game left to play. 

 Scores: Barbados Royals 156-3 (Khan 64, Tector 47*; Dananjaya 1-25, Jansen 1-32) beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 120 all out (Lewis 41, Brevis 21; Young 3-5, Mujeeb 3-18) by 36 runs.

After a Powerplay charge, the Amazon Warriors lost 10/62 as Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Sandeep Lamichhane ran riot. But last year’s finalists roared back with the ball to take bursts of 3/4 and 4/25, leaving the Tallawahs needing 60 from the last 4 overs, from which position even Russell at his most devastating wasn’t enough.

After Tallawahs captain Rovman Powell elected to bowl, Fidel Edwards generated significant swing, but Oshane Thomas was wayward and Brandon King punished him mercilessly. The fact that one of his Hero Maximums was off a no-ball because too many fielders were behind square on the leg-side added insult to injury. Thomas was not seen again with the ball.

Chandrapaul Hemraj was quick to pounce on anything short from either Mujeeb or Russell, and with King continuing to time the ball sweetly, the Amazon Warriors raced to 56/0. All seemed to be going swimmingly.

But Mujeeb sparked a remarkable turnaround. First, a ball skidded past King’s sweep, then next ball the in-form Shimron Hetmyer was done by a quicker off-spinner. When Hemraj steered the first ball after the Powerplay to the fielder at point, the Amazon Warriors had slumped from 56/0 to 57/3 inside four balls.

That became 67/4 when Nicholas Pooran tried to cut Mujeeb and edged behind. Sensing an opportunity Powell went on the attack, introducing Lamichhane and keeping a slip in. So panicked were the Amazon Warriors that Sherfane Rutherford came out with two left gloves.

Lamichhane did not disappoint. His first over was tight, and in his second his googly spun big to leave Rutherford only able to give Mujeeb a second catch at point. Ross Taylor found himself fighting a lone hand, and the Amazon Warriors found themselves in a hole at 85/5 after 12 overs.

That hole got deeper still. Keemo Paul skied to Phillips trying to pull Carlos Brathwaite’s third ball, Amazon Warriors skipper Chris Green lost his leg-stump to Lamichhane, and eventually, Taylor clipped Brathwaite straight to deep midwicket to leave the Amazon Warriors 99/8 after 16 overs.

Naveen-ul-Haq showed a deft touch, but debutant Ashmead Nedd couldn’t stay with him as he was farcically run out. Naveen tried to hit out but gave mid-off a simple catch to give Brathwaite a third wicket and put the final nail in the coffin - or so it seemed.

At the start of the chase, Green sparked panic with a pair of LBWs, removing Chadwick Walton with the first ball of the innings and ending Nkrumah Bonner’s first Hero CPL game since 2016 shortly after, courtesy of a bad decision from the usually reliable Brathwaite. Imran Tahir got a rare outing in the Powerplay and threatened immediately with a maiden.
Nedd’s debut may not have gone well with the bat, but the first ball of his T20 career removed Glenn Phillips. Asif Ali joined captain Powell in the fourth over with the score 4/3, and though he was beaten with his first two balls he got off the mark with a commanding cut shot.

The Amazon Warriors bowled, fielded and appealed as though angered by their own batting, and the intensity didn’t let up after the Powerplay. Naveen let rip some whole-hearted LBW appeals, Nedd got bounce and sharp turn, and Paul hit Powell on the helmet with his first ball.
While Asif was dropped at long leg by Nedd, he would not get a second life. Hetmyer held his nerve at long-on and sent the Tallawahs to the drinks break reeling. Naveen kept the pressure on, and Nedd was unplayable at times. At 41/4 after 12, the Tallawahs had to confront the possibility of losing an unlosable game, and that became even more real when Brathwaite was bowled by Paul.

Nedd finished a remarkable debut with four dot balls to Russell, and the Tallawahs now needed 69 from the last six overs before Powell clubbed Naveen down Green’s throat to leave Russell still to get off the mark and batting with the tail.

Russell finally hit his first Hero Maximum of the tournament off Imran Tahir, who returned to trap Lamichhane LBW for a duck. When Russell took the 17th over for 11 runs, the 18th for 17, and the first two balls of the 19th for 10, it looked like he was going to win yet another game single-handedly.
But Naveen responded with four dot balls in a row, and crucially kept Russell off strike for the last over.

Paul’s execution was perfect, and though Russell battered a Hero Maximum onto the roof to bring up 50 it was too late. Both sides will be wondering what happened after 39.1 overs that defied logic.