The 2018–19 Afghanistan Premier League (also known as Gulbahar Afghanistan Premier League T20 2018)[1] was the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League Twenty20 (T20) franchise cricket tournament, held in the United Arab Emirates.[2] It took place between 5 and 21 October 2018 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.[3]
| Dates | 5 – 21 October 2018 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Afghanistan Cricket Board |
| Cricket format | Twenty20 |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin |
| Host(s) |  United Arab Emirates |
| Champions | Balkh Legends (1st title) |
| Participants | 5 |
| Matches | 23 |
| Player of the series | Rashid Khan (Kabul Zwanan) |
| Most runs | Mohammad Shahzad (Paktia Panthers) (344) |
| Most wickets | Isuru Udana (Paktia Panthers) (17) |
| Official website | www.aplt20.tv/ |
In September 2018, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that they would not give No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to the active Pakistani players.[4] In October 2018, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) denied to give NOCs to Mohammad Mithun and Soumya Sarkar.[5]
Balkh Legends won the title, after beating Kabul Zwanan by four wickets in the final.[6][7]
Squads
editThe following squads were announced for the tournament:[8]
Points table
edit| Team[9] | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balkh Legends | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | +0.782 |
| Paktia Panthers | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 | +0.144 |
| Kabul Zwanan | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | –0.070 |
| Nangarhar Leopards | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | –0.582 |
| Kandahar Knights | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | –0.226 |
- The top four teams qualified for the playoffs
- Advanced to Semifinals
League stage
editThe following fixtures were confirmed in September 2018.[10]
Paktia Panthers
218/4 (20 overs) |
v
|
Kabul Zwanan
220/7 (19.1 overs) |
- Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to field.
- Zahir Shehzad (Kabul Zwanan) made his T20 debut.
Kandahar Knights
139/9 (20 overs) |
v
|
Nangarhar Leopards
142/4 (18.3 overs) |
- Kandahar Knights won the toss and elected to bat.
- Waqar Salamkheil (Kandahar Knights) made his T20 debut.
- Ben Cutting (Nangarhar Leopards) took a hat-trick.
Kabul Zwanan
176/6 (20 overs) |
v
|
Balkh Legends
177/2 (18.5 overs) |
- Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to field.
Paktia Panthers
184/8 (20 overs) |
v
|
Nangarhar Leopards
163/6 (20 overs) |
- Paktia Panthers won the toss and elected to bat.
- Azmatullah Omarzai (Paktia Panthers) made his T20 debut.
Balkh Legends
165/5 (20 overs) |
v
|
Kandahar Knights
152/7 (20 overs) |
- Kandahar Knights won the toss and elected to field.
Nangarhar Leopards
188/5 (20 overs) |
v
|
Kabul Zwanan
191/3 (17.5 overs) |
- Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to field.
Paktia Panthers
204/4 (20 overs) |
v
|
Balkh Legends
167 (19 overs) |
- Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to field.
- Ziaur Rahman (Paktia Panthers) made his T20 debut.
Kabul Zwanan
173/6 (20 overs) |
v
|
Kandahar Knights
171/7 (20 overs) |
- Kandahar Knights won the toss and elected to field.
Balkh Legends
143/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
Nangarhar Leopards
118 (19.1 overs) |
- Nangarhar Leopards won the toss and elected to field.
Paktia Panthers
127 (18.2 overs) |
v
|
Kandahar Knights
118 (19.4 overs) |
- Paktia Panthers won the toss and elected to bat.
Nangarhar Leopards
182/5 (20 overs) |
v
|
Kabul Zwanan
167/9 (20 overs) |
- Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to field.
Balkh Legends
195/4 (20 overs) |
v
|
Paktia Panthers
106 (15.2 overs) |
- Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to bat.
Kandahar Knights
136/8 (20 overs) |
v
|
Nangarhar Leopards
110 (19.3 overs) |
- Kandahar Knights won the toss and elected to bat.
Balkh Legends
244/6 (20 overs) |
v
|
Kabul Zwanan
223/7 (20 overs) |
- Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to bat.
Nangarhar Leopards
126 (20 overs) |
v
|
Paktia Panthers
129/3 (14.4 overs) |
- Nangarhar Leopards won the toss and elected to bat.
Kandahar Knights
152/5 (20 overs) |
v
|
Kabul Zwanan
153/6 (19.1 overs) |
- Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to field.
Balkh Legends
133/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
Nangarhar Leopards
134/4 (18 overs) |
- Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to bat.
Paktia Panthers
167/7 (20 overs) |
v
|
Kandahar Knights
168/6 (20 overs) |
- Paktia Panthers won the toss and elected to bat.
Kandahar Knights
141/9 (20 overs) |
v
|
Balkh Legends
142/4 (17.5 overs) |
- Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to field.
- Samiullah (Balkh Legends) made his T20 debut.
Kabul Zwanan
168/4 (20 overs) |
v
|
Paktia Panthers
172/4 (19.4 overs) |
- Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to bat.
- Usman Adil (Kabul Zwanan) made his T20 debut.
Playoffs
edit| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| 1 | Balkh Legends | 235/5 (20 overs) | |||||||
| 4 | Nangarhar Leopards | 64 (13.1 overs) | |||||||
| 1 | Balkh Legends | 138/6 (18.1 overs) | |||||||
| 3 | Kabul Zwanan | 132/9 (20 overs) | |||||||
| 2 | Paktia Panthers | 102 (14.5 overs) | |||||||
| 3 | Kabul Zwanan | 192/9 (20 overs) | |||||||
Semifinal 1
editBalkh Legends
235/5 (20 overs) |
v
|
Nangarhar Leopards
64 (13.1 overs) |
- Balkh Legends won the toss and elected to bat.
Semifinal 2
editKabul Zwanan
192/9 (20 overs) |
v
|
Paktia Panthers
102 (14.5 overs) |
- Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to bat.
Final
editKabul Zwanan
132/9 (20 overs) |
v
|
Balkh Legends
138/6 (18.1 overs) |
- Kabul Zwanan won the toss and elected to bat.
Statistics
editMost runs
edit| Player | Team | Mat | Inns | Runs | Ave | SR | HS | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mohammad Shahzad
|
Paktia Panthers | 9 | 9 | 344 | 43.00 | 174.61 | 78* | 0 | 4 | 30 | 27 |
| Hazratullah Zazai
|
Kabul Zwanan | 10 | 10 | 322 | 32.20 | 193.97 | 124 | 1 | 1 | 34 | 21 |
 Chris Gayle
|
Balkh Legends | 7 | 7 | 315 | 45.00 | 172.13 | 80 | 0 | 4 | 25 | 27 |
 Laurie Evans
|
Kabul Zwanan | 9 | 9 | 305 | 61.00 | 142.52 | 79* | 0 | 3 | 16 | 19 |
 Ryan ten Doeschate
|
Balkh Legends | 9 | 9 | 274 | 54.80 | 126.26 | 78* | 0 | 2 | 21 | 11 |
- Last Updated: 22 October 2018.
- Source: Cricinfo[11]
Most wickets
edit| Player | Team | Mat | Inns | Wkts | Ave | Econ | BBI | 4WI | 5WI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Isuru Udana
|
Paktia Panthers | 8 | 8 | 17 | 14.41 | 7.65 | 4/38 | 1 | 0 |
| Sayed Shirzad
|
Kandahar Knights | 8 | 8 | 16 | 15.25 | 7.82 | 4/19 | 1 | 0 |
| Qais Ahmad
|
Balkh Legends | 9 | 9 | 15 | 12.53 | 6.26 | 5/18 | 0 | 1 |
| Mirwais Ashraf
|
Balkh Legends | 9 | 9 | 14 | 15.28 | 7.97 | 4/19 | 1 | 0 |
 Wayne Parnell
|
Kabul Zwanan | 10 | 10 | 13 | 25.84 | 8.96 | 3/35 | 0 | 0 |
- Last Updated: 22 October 2018.
- Source: Cricinfo[12]
References
edit- ^ "Gulbahar group confirmed as APL title sponsor". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ "Afghanistan Premier League slated for October 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- ^ "DSport to live broadcast APL 2018 in India". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- ^ "Pak cricketers ask PCB to issue NOC to play in APL". The Nation. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ^ "Soumya, Mithun denied NOC for APL T20". Dhaka Tribune. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- ^ "BALKH LEGENDS CROWNED CHAMPIONS OF APL T20 2018". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
- ^ "Qais Ahmed, Chris Gayle star as Balkh Legends win inaugural APL". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
- ^ "Gayle, Afridi, Russell: icons in Afghanistan Premier League". ESPN Cricinfo. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
- ^ "Afghanistan Premier League 2018 Points Table". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
- ^ "Schedules & Results". APLT20. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ "RECORDS / AFGHANISTAN PREMIER LEAGUE, 2018/19 / MOST RUNS". Cricinfo. ESPN. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
- ^ "RECORDS / AFGHANISTAN PREMIER LEAGUE, 2018/19 / MOST WICKETS". Cricinfo. ESPN. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.