According to the Afghanistan Cricket Board’s domestic cricket schedule, the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Grade 1 Provincial T20 Tournament, which began on February 3 this year, hosted by Kandahar and Nangarhar provinces, concluded today with the Khost team winning the championship title.
The final match was held at
Najibullah Tarakai Cricket Ground in Nangarhar, where Khost defeated Khost B by
6 wickets to lift the trophy. This year marked the first edition of the Wazir
Mohammad Akbar Khan Grade 1 Provincial tournament, conducted in the T20 format.
The performers from the tournament will be selected for the National T20 Cup
event.
A total of 12 strong teams
participated in this year’s tournament. From Group A, Khost-B and Domestic-XI 2
advanced to the semifinals, while from Group B, Khost and Kabul-A secured their
spots. In the first semifinal, Khost defeated Domestic-XI 2 by 33 runs. In the
second semifinal, Khost-B beat Kabul-A by 11 runs.
In today’s final, Khost-B batted
first and set a target of 138 runs in their allotted 20 overs. For Khost-B,
Emal Shaheen scored 58 runs and Jamshid Zadran added 42. On the bowling side
for Khost, Khalil Ahmad took 3 wickets.
Chasing 138 runs, Khost achieved
the target in the 17th over with the loss of 4 wickets. Tahir Sarwari scored 52
runs and Nasir Ahmad contributed 41. For Khost-B, Ihsan Aman claimed 2 wickets.
At the end of the match, Tahir
Sarwari was named Player of the Match. Mohammad Haroon was awarded the
tournament’s highest run-scorer with 236 runs. Naseem Mangal led the bowling
charts with 12 wickets. Younis Zadran, with 9 wickets and 111 runs, was named
the tournament’s best all-rounder. Rahmatullah, with 8 wickets, received the
Emerging Player award.
All talented players who
performed well in batting and bowling during the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Grade
1 Provincial T20 Tournament will be selected for the National T20 Cup later
this year, and the top performers at the National T20 Cup will have the
opportunity to play in the Shpageeza T20 League.