Knights nick edge-of-the-seat last-ball thriller against Panthers

Sharjah - Knights' captain Asghar Afghan had led from the front, quite literally, with a 42-ball 74 -his highest score in T20s.

The Kandahar Knights nicked an edge-of-the-seat and dramatic last-ball thriller against the Paktia Panthers to live to fight another day in the Gulbahar Afghanistan Premier League (APL) on Wednesday night.  
Karim Sadiq unfurled a 'Dilshan Scoop' off tall medium pacer Zia-ur-Rahman for a boundary to leave one needed from one ball and then miscued his pull. But the mid-on and mid-wicket fielders fluffed the offering to hand the Knights a nail-biting four-wicket victory at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Earlier, Knights' captain Asghar Afghan had led from the front, quite literally, with a 42-ball 74 -his highest score in T20s. But their chase of 168 had appeared to be losing steam until Najibullah Zadran and Riki Wessels held it together before Karim Janat and Sadiq just about pushed them over the line.
Afghan, also the Afghanistan skipper, came up with his third half-century of the tournament, his knock including six mighty sixes and five boundaries.
The win, only their second, took them to four points and another victory over the Balkh Legends on Thursday will take them through to the play-offs.
Meanwhile, Samiullah Shenwari and Calum MacLeod shone for the Panthers early on.
Shenwari top scored with a fine 65 from 43 deliveries with five sixes and three boundaries, while Scotsman MacLeod, who most famously had scored an unbeaten 140 from 94 balls as Scotland stunned England in an ODI in Edinburgh this June, made 40.
MacLeod's knock came from 33 deliveries with three boundaries and two sixes.
Earlier, the Panthers had recovered from a mini-collapse to post 167 for seven in their allotment of 20 overs. Opener and captain Mohammad Shahzad racked up an 11-ball 21 with two sixes and a boundary and his partner Fazal Zazai, a 17-ball 19 with two boundaries and a six.
But Ihsanullah and Cameron Delport fell cheaply, both dismissed by brilliant outfield catches by Brendon McCullum and captain Asghar Afghan, off left-arm pacer Sayed Shirzad.
But Shenwari and MacLeod came up with a fine rearguard to pull them out of a precarious 48 for four to a fighting total.
Shirzad finished up with four for 36, while medium pacer Karim Janat took two for 18.
Brief scores:
Paktia Panthers: 167 for 7 in 20 overs (Samiullah Shenwari , Calum MacLeod 40, Mohammad Shahzad 21, Sayed  Shirzad 3-36, Karim Janat 2-18) lost to Kandahar Knights: 168 for 6 in 20 overs (Asghar Afghan 74, Najibullah Zadran 23, Riki Wessels 22, Paul Stirling 20, Zia-ur-Rahman 3-40) by 4 wickets.
james@khaleejtimes.com