Kabul Zwanan vs Kandahar Knights Prediction

KZ Team News

Kabul Zwanan made one change from the team beaten by Balkh Legends, with Muslim Musa making way for Nijat Masood. He too was expensive with the ball, as was Ali Khan who was dropped after the first game. With Wayne Parnell also shipping runs, the latter could come back in to face Kandahar Knights; while the batting line-up is well set, it is clear they are yet to find their best bowling attack.

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Hazratullah Zazai stole the show with the bat in the win against Nangarhar Leopards, smashing 124 from just 55 balls at the top of the order. He and Luke Ronchi shared a 144-run opening partnership in just 11.3 overs, with Hazratullah doing the majority of the hitting – he smashed 12 fours and nine sixes in total.

It was the Afghanistan international’s first big score of the tournament, but he did hit 74 and 82 in back to back T20 internationals against Ireland back in August too.

Englishman Laurie Evans had previously been their batting star, picking up where he left off in the t20 Blast – where he was top run scorer as Sussex reached the final – with scores of 79* and 64 in the first two matches.

Kabul Zwanan’s weakness has been with the ball, where they have shipped plenty of runs. That is not the case for world number one T20 international bowler Rashid Khan, however – the Afghan spinner took 1-13 from his four overs against Nangarhar Leopards to maintain his economical start to the tournament. In fact, his contribution was arguably just as important as Hazratullah’s batting.

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Kabul Zwanan started the APL with a win on the opening night, successfully chasing 219 to beat Paktia Panthers in the final over. Laurie Evans was the star as he hit an unbeaten 79 from 39 balls to lead his side to victory.

They lost their second game, despite more big hitting from Evans (64) and an unbeaten 27-ball 56 for Rashid Khan. Their total of 176/6 proved to be below par, as Balkh Legends got home with seven balls to spare to win by eight wickets.

Last time out, however, Kabul Zwanan roared back to winning ways and in some style too. Rashid Khan’s 1-13 from four overs stopped Nangarhar Leopards’ score getting too out of hand as they finished 188/5, before Hazratullah Zazai stole the show with the bat. A 144-run opening partnership with Luke Ronchi (26) set the tone, before he was eventually dismissed for 124 from 55 balls, leaving Javen Ahmadi and Laurie Evans to lead Kabul Zwanan home with 13 balls to spare.