APL 2018 Match 6, Kabul Zwanan vs Nangarhar Leopards: Probable XI and Match Prediction

The APL 2018 will be back in action today after an off-day on Monday. The APL 2018 will resume with a game between Kabul Zwanan and Nangarhar Leopards at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah, UAE.

Both teams, Kabul and Nangarhar, will be eager to get back to their conquering ways after having lost their previous encounters against Balkh and Paktia respectively.

The temperature in Sharjah will be hovering around 31 degree Celsius while the humidity levels will be clocking around 37 percent. Thus, it is expected to be a pleasant evening in Sharjah tonight.

APL 2018 - Kabul Zwanan vs Nangarhar Leopards, Match 6 Details:

Match Date: 09 October 2018, Tuesday

Match Time: 4:00 PM GMT, 9:30 PM IST, 8:00 PM LOCAL

Match Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE

Team News

Andre Russell, the captain of Nangarhar Leopards, was expected to be available for today's game against Kabul Zwanan. However, it is highly unlikely that Russell will be a part of today's encounter against Kabul. Once again, Ben Cutting will be leading the side in the absence of Russell.

Kabul Zwanan

Kabul Zwanan, under the tutelage of Rashid Khan, kicked-off the tournament on a winning note. However, failed to emulate the same in the coming game despite scoring 176 runs in their quota of 20 overs.

Zwanan seems to be short on bowling front as they failed to defend 176 which was supposed to be a decent score on that pitch. Barring Rashid Khan and Wayne Parnell, Kabul lacks experience in their bowling department which will ask them to score 15-20 runs extra to have an edge in the game.

Meanwhile, their batting has been exceptional with the likes of Luke Ronchi, Laurie Evans, Colin Ingram, and Rashid Khan who has evolved as an all-rounder. Thus, the onus will be on Rashid once again for the game against Nangarhar.

Hence, coming after a loss in their second game, Kabul will look to get back on the track with a win against Leopards.

Probable Playing XI for Kabul Zwanan: Luke Ronchi (WK), Hazratullah Zazai, Colin Ingram, Javed Ahmadi, Laurie Evans, Shaidullah Kamla, Rashid Khan (C), Wayne Parnell, Farid Ahmed, Muslim Musa, and Zahir Shehzad.

Nangarhar Leopards

Meanwhile, Nangarhar Leopards will be missing their premier all-rounder and captain Andre Russell. To be fair enough, Russell's absence hasn't affected the Leopards much with Cutting having taken over the captaincy duties.

Leopards had a pretty decent start to their campaign with a resounding win over Kandahar in the second match of the league. Nonetheless, Nangarhar had to face a defeat against Paktia Panthers where Leopards' top-order struggled considerably. It was Hashmatullah Shahidi and Ben Cutting who took the game to the end with their respective scores 49 and 71. Despite a decent hand in the middle-order, Nangarhar fell short of 27 runs.

Probable Playing XI for Nangarhar Leopards: Najeeb Tarakai, Johnson Charles, Anton Devcich, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Shafiqullah Shafiq (WK), Ben Cutting (C), Mitchell McClenaghan, Naveen-Ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Zahir Khan.

Match Prediction

With the likes of Cutting, Zahir Khan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mujeeb, Johnson Charles, and Anton Devcich, Nangarhar seems to be on an upper hand in today's game between Kabul Zwanan and Nangarhar Leopards. Thus, To go by the numbers, Nangarhar is expected to be on the winning side in today's game.

Scenario 1: Kabul Zwanan batting first

Predicted Score: 165-170

Scenario 2: Nangarhar Leopards batting first

Predicted Score: 175-180

Predicted End Result: Nangarhar Leopards win convincingly.