The Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Grade 1 Provincial Tournament, one of the major provincial level events of Afghanistan’s domestic cricket concluded today with the Nangarhar team crowned champions.
In the final, Nangarhar defeated
the Nangarhar-B team by a huge margin of 124 runs. The Wazir Mohammad Akbar
Khan Grade 1 Provincial Tournament, which began on January 5 in Khost and
Nangarhar provinces, featured 12 strong provincial teams that topped the
Provincial Grade II Tournament and eventually found way to participate in
Provincial Grade 1 Tournament.
The Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Grade
1 Provincial Tournament is held annually, and outstanding and promising players
from this event are selected for the major domestic cricket events, including
the Mirwais Nika Three-Day and List A tournaments.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board,
committed to developing and promoting domestic cricket talent, selected a
number of capable and talented players from the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Grade
II Provincial Tournament to participate in this event. These players competed
alongside several strong national and domestic-level players.
In today’s final between
Nangarhar and Nangarhar-B, the Nangarhar team batted first and set a target of
269 runs in the allotted 45 overs. In Nangarhar’s batting lineup, Akbar Musazai
scored 69 runs, Irshad Uddin Safi 65, Usman Noori 62, and Mohammad Shahzad 40
runs. On the other hand, for Nangarhar-B, Nasir Khan took 3 wickets.
In reply to the 269-run target,
Nangarhar-B was bowled out for just 144 runs in the 34th over, losing the match
by 124 runs. In their batting, Abid Mohammadi scored 31 runs and Rohullah Safi
added 29 runs. For Nangarhar’s bowlers, Ibrahim Kharotai and Usman Younas took
3 wickets each, while Zahir Shahzad claimed 2 wickets.
At the closing ceremony of the
final, Akbar Musazai was named Player of the Match for his 69 runs. Paktika’s
batsman Karamatullah, with 393 runs, was awarded Best Batsman of the
Tournament. Logar’s bowler Mohammadullah Logari, with 12 wickets, received the
Best Bowler award. Nangarhar-B’s captain Naseer Khan, with 13 wickets and 45
runs, was named the tournament’s Best All-Rounder. The Emerging Player of the
Tournament award went to Nangarhar’s Usman Younas for his performance of 64
runs and 13 wickets.
This year as well, 12 teams
competed in the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Grade 1 Provincial Tournament across
two separate groups. Each team played five matches, and each player
participated in at least three games. However, players who consistently
performed well played more than three matches, and in some cases, all of their
team’s matches.
It is worth noting that the T20
format of the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Grade 1 Provincial Tournament, aimed at
identifying top players for the national T20 Cup, will be held a few days later
with the same teams and players.