2020 Shpageeza Cricket League
The 2020 Shpageeza Cricket League was the seventh edition of the Shpageeza Cricket League,[2] a professional Twenty20 cricket (T20) league established by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in 2013, and the third edition to have official T20 status. Following a request to the Ministry of Public Health due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was given approval in July 2020 to take place.[3] The ACB also confirmed that is was their priority to run a successful tournament.[4]
| Dates | 6 – 18 September 2020 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) |
| Cricket format | Twenty20 |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and playoffs |
| Host(s) |  Afghanistan |
| Champions | Kabul Eagles (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Mis Ainak Knights |
| Participants | 6 |
| Matches played | 19 |
| Player of the series | Azmatullah Omarzai Karim Janat[1] |
| Most runs | Usman Ghani (355) |
| Most wickets | Waqar Salamkheil (13) Nangialai Kharoti (13) |
The tournament was originally scheduled to take place from 13 to 25 September 2020,[5] with the matches being played at the Kabul Cricket Stadium.[6] However, the tournament was moved forward by one week,[7] to avoid clashing with the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL), which itself had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] Six teams took part in the tournament,[9] and the Mis Ainak Knights were the defending champions.[10]
On 20 August 2020, a players' draft took place ahead of the tournament.[11][12] The ACB also stated that all Afghan players taking part in the 2020 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) should return to Afghanistan before the CPL is due to conclude, so they can be available to play in the Shpageeza Cricket League.[13] However, after talks with the President of Cricket West Indies, it was decided that these players could finish the CPL before returning, while the players with IPL contracts would miss the tournament completely.[14]
The opening match of the tournament saw the Mis Ainak Knights beat the Band-e-Amir Dragons by one run, with the Knights managing to defend 13 runs from the final over of the game.[15]
The Kabul Eagles, Mis Ainak Knights, Band-e-Amir Dragons and Boost Defenders finished in the top four places in the group stage to progress to the knockout phase of the tournament. In the first qualifier, the Kabul Eagles beat the Mis Ainak Knights by four wickets. Therefore, the Eagles progressed directly to the final, with the Knights moving to the second qualifier match.[16] In the eliminator match, the Band-e-Amir Dragons beat the Boost Defenders by 76 runs to join the Knights in the second qualifier match.[17] The second qualifier saw the Mis Ainak Knights beat the Band-e-Amir Dragons by five wickets,[18] to join the Kabul Eagles in the final.[19] In the final, the Kabul Eagles beat Mis Ainak Knights by nine runs to win the tournament.[20]
Points table
| Team[21] | Pld | W | L | T | NRR | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kabul Eagles | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | +0.350 | 8 |
| Mis Ainak Knights | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | +1.773 | 6 |
| Band-e-Amir Dragons | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | +1.005 | 6 |
| Boost Defenders | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | +0.918 | 6 |
| Speen Ghar Tigers | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | –0.608 | 4 |
| Amo Sharks | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | –3.481 | 0 |
Fixtures
Mis Ainak Knights 179/7 (20 overs) |
v |
Band-e-Amir Dragons 178/5 (20 overs) |
- Band-e-Amir Dragons won the toss and elected to field.
Speen Ghar Tigers 150/6 (20 overs) |
v |
Amo Sharks 101/9 (20 overs) |
- Speen Ghar Tigers won the toss and elected to bat.
- Farhan Zakhil, Asadullah Matani (Amo Sharks), Zubaid Akbari and Zahid Khan (Speen Ghar Tigers) all made their T20 debuts.
Boost Defenders 172/3 (20 overs) |
v |
Kabul Eagles 115 (19.1 overs) |
- Boost Defenders won the toss and elected to bat.
- Sediqullah Atal, Nangialai Kharoti (Kabul Eagles) and Mohammad Saleem (Boost Defenders) all made their T20 debuts.
Mis Ainak Knights 163/6 (20 overs) |
v |
Kabul Eagles 164/6 (19 overs) |
- Kabul Eagles won the toss and elected to field.
- Wasim Zazai and Riaz Hussan (Kabul Eagles) both made their T20 debuts.
- Noor Ali Zadran (Kabul Eagles) was dismissed by mankading.[22]
Boost Defenders 133/9 (20 overs) |
v |
Band-e-Amir Dragons 134/1 (15 overs) |
- Boost Defenders won the toss and elected to bat.
Amo Sharks 142/5 (20 overs) |
v |
Band-e-Amir Dragons 144/3 (17.3 overs) |
- Band-e-Amir Dragons won the toss and elected to field.
Mis Ainak Knights 221/4 (20 overs) |
v |
Speen Ghar Tigers 163 (18.3 overs) |
- Mis Ainak Knights won the toss and elected to bat.
- Pakhtoon Sarfaraz and Mohammadullah Hamkar (Mis Ainak Knights) both made their T20 debuts.
Speen Ghar Tigers 175/3 (20 overs) |
v |
Boost Defenders 170/8 (20 overs) |
- Boost Defenders won the toss and elected to field.
- Wahidullah Ali (Boost Defenders) and Majeed Alam (Speen Ghar Tigers) both made their T20 debuts.
Kabul Eagles 223/5 (20 overs) |
v |
Amo Sharks 162/7 (20 overs) |
- Kabul Eagles won the toss and elected to bat.
- Rahmanullah (Kabul Eagles) and Amanullah Rafiqi (Amo Sharks) both made their T20 debuts.
Speen Ghar Tigers 139/5 (20 overs) |
v |
Band-e-Amir Dragons 145/3 (16.1 overs) |
- Speen Ghar Tigers won the toss and elected to bat.
- Jalat Khan (Speen Ghar Tigers) made his T20 debut.
Mis Ainak Knights 188/2 (20 overs) |
v |
Boost Defenders 192/6 (20 overs) |
- Mis Ainak Knights won the toss and elected to bat.
Band-e-Amir Dragons 146/5 (20 overs) |
v |
Kabul Eagles 149/8 (20 overs) |
- Kabul Eagles won the toss and elected to field.
- Bilal Sami and Farhad Momand (Band-e-Amir Dragons) both made their T20 debuts.
Mis Ainak Knights 193/5 (20 overs) |
v |
Amo Sharks 62 (12 overs) |
Amanullah Rafiqi 21 (19) Dawlat Zadran 5/9 (3 overs) |
- Amo Sharks won the toss and elected to field.
- Janat Gul, Yahya Khan, Shir Shirzai (Amo Sharks) and Abdul Baqi (Mis Ainak Knights) all made their T20 debuts.
Speen Ghar Tigers 142/8 (20 overs) |
v |
Kabul Eagles 143/4 (17.5 overs) |
- Kabul Eagles won the toss and elected to field.
- Abdul Latif Ayoubi (Kabul Eagles) made his T20 debut.
- Abdul Latif Ayoubi was also the team owner of the Kabul Eagles.[23]
Amo Sharks 122/5 (20 overs) |
v |
Boost Defenders 124/0 (11.3 overs) |
Karim Janat 64* (38) |
- Boost Defenders won the toss and elected to field.
- Zahid Zakhail (Amo Sharks) made his T20 debut.
Knockout-stage
Mis Ainak Knights 208/3 (20 overs) |
v |
Kabul Eagles 209/6 (19.1 overs) |
- Kabul Eagles won the toss and elected to field.
- Sharifullah Ahmadzai (Kabul Eagles) made his T20 debut.
Band-e-Amir Dragons 232/2 (20 overs) |
v |
Boost Defenders 156 (19.2 overs) |
- Boost Defenders won the toss and elected to field.
Band-e-Amir Dragons 178/8 (20 overs) |
v |
Mis Ainak Knights 182/5 (18.4 overs) |
- Band-e-Amir Dragons won the toss and elected to bat.
Kabul Eagles 139 (19.1 overs) |
v |
Mis Ainak Knights 130 (19.4 overs) |
- Mis Ainak Knights won the toss and elected to field.
- Haseebullah (Kabul Eagles) made his T20 debut.
References
- "Ayobi Kabul Eagles lift Shpageeza Title in a thrilling Final". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- "Five companies awarded ownership rights of SCL7". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- "Afghanistan Cricket Board Receives Government Approval to Resume Domestic Cricket". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- "Successful Shpageeza and APLT20 a priority: ACB Chairman". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
- "Shpageeza Cricket League to Begin in September in Kabul". Tolo News. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
- "RTA secures broadcasting rights for seventh edition of SCL". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- "ACB reschedule Shpageeza Cricket League to avoid IPL clash". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- "Governing Council meeting on August 1 likely to finalise IPL 2020 schedule | ESPNcricinfo.com". www.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- "Afghanistan's Sphageeza Cricket League to Begin on September 13 in Kabul". Network18 Media and Investments Ltd. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- "Mohammad Nabi, Naveen-ul-Haq take Mis Ainak Knights to Shpageeza title". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- "Teams Bid on Players for Shpageeza Cricket League Auction". Tolo News. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
- "Afghanistan's Shpageeza Cricket League 2020: Squads and complete list of players". Cricket Times. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
- "CPL 2020: Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman could miss playoffs". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- "Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman to head directly to IPL from CPL". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
- "Mis-e Ainak Knights emerge triumphant in a thrilling tournament opener". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- "Azmatullah, Noor ali take Eagles to Finals". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
- "Asghar, Mirwais take Dragons to Qualifier". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
- "Sublime Bahar, Shahidullah take Knights to Final". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- "Band-e-Amir to Face Mis-e-Ainak in Cricket League Semi-Final". Tolo News. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- "Shpageeza Cricket League 2020: Kabul Eagles beat Mis Ainak Knights to become champions". Cricket Times. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- "Points Table". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- "Shpageeza league 2020: Dawlat Zadran runs out Noor Ali Zadran at non-striker's end". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- "Team owner makes T20 debut in Afghanistan league, gets banned for misbehaviour". Indian Express. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
External links
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