APL 2018 Match 2, Kandahar Knights vs Nangarhar Leopards: Preview, Probable Playing XI and Match Prediction

The first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League 2018 is all set to kick-off today from the very famous Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah, UAE. Kabul and Paktia will clash for the opening match. Meanwhile, Nangarhar Leopards and Kandahar Knights will lock horns against each other for the second match of the APL 2018.

APL 2018 - Kandahar Knights vs Nangarhar Leopars, Match 2 Details :

Match Date: 06 October 2018, Saturday

Match Timing: 12:00 AM GMT, 04:00 PM Local, 05:30 PM IST

Match Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE

Team News

Ben Cutting, the Australian all-rounder, will be captaining Nangarhar Leopards in their opening game as Andre Russell is expected to miss out their first encounter.

Besides, Tamim Iqbal is most likely to miss out for Nangarhar Leopards owing to his finger injury.

Kandahar Knights

Ashgar Afghan, the Afghanistani captain, will be captaining Kandahar Knights in the APL 2018.

With the equals of Brendon McCullum, Mohammad Mithun, Najibullah Zadran, Ashgar Afghan, and Kevin O Brien, the Kandahar batting lineup seems pretty decent while going into the opening game.

Unquestionably, McCullum will turn out to be Knights' important player in their opening game.

On the other hand, Kandahar's bowling looks solid too. With Karim Janat, Taskin Ahmed, and Tymal Mills in their bowling department, Knights look formidable on paper. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see that how Kandahar will fare in their opening game.

Probable Playing XI: Brendon McCullum, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Mithun, Asghar Afghan (C), Waqar Salamkheil, Kevin O Brien, Karim Sadiq, Karim Janat, Taskin Ahmed, Sayed Shirzad, and Tymal Mills.

Nangarhar Leopards

With Andre Russell not available for the opening game, Ben Cutting will be leading Leopards on Saturday. Nangarhar looks strong on batting front as compared to Kandahar. With Andre Fletcher in the opening slot, their batting lineup looks lethal. Moreover, Devcich, Shahidi, and Cutting make the batting lineup much more strong as they go deep.

Meanwhile, their bowling looks settled too. With the likes of Cutting, Mujeeb, McClenaghan, and Zahir in the bowling lineup, Leopards look set to take on Kandahar in their opening game.

Probable Playing XI: Andre Fletcher, Najeeb Tarakai, Anton Devcich, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Shafiqullah Shafiq, Ben Cutting (C), Rahmat Shah, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Zahir Khan, Mitchell McClenaghan, and Khaiber Omar.

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Match Prediction

Comparing the overall balance of both the sides, Nangarhar looks much stronger than Kandahar. Thus, Nangarhar Leopards are expected to start their APL 2018 on the winning note.

Scenario 1: Kandahar Knights batting first

Predicted Score: 155 - 160

Scenario 2: Nangarhar Leopards batting first

Predicted Score: 165 - 170