Afghanistan Premier League (APL) 2018: Ben Cutting's effort in vain as his Nangarhar Leopards lose to Patika Panthers

Australian Ben Cutting's spectacular knock of 71 off just 38 balls went in vain as his side Nangarhar Leopards eventually failed to chase down Patika Panthers' target of 185 in their Afghanistan Premier League (APL) match on Sunday. 

Opting to bat, Panthers' skipper Mohammad Shahzad led from the front as he scored 53 runs off 31 balls. His knock was inclusive of seven fours and two sixes. 

The next best performers with the bat for Panthers were Samiullah Shenwari (38 off 25) and South Africa's Cameron Delport (35 of 22). 

If Shehzad was the pick of the players for his side, his counterpart Cutting was not far behind as he clinched three wickets before he produced a Player of the Match knock of 71. Although he got hit wicket and his side lost, that performance received the award despite of it coming at a losing cause. 

This was two out of two Player of the Match awards for the Australian and he has had fifty percent result so far in the APL 2018.

He bagged his maiden five-wicket haul in T20s in Leopards' opening APL match against Kandahar Knights. Cutting's 5 for 28 in his quota of four overs was one of the reasons Knights were restricted for a mere total of 138 before

Leopards chased that down with six wickets and nine balls to spare. 

Prior to APL 2018, Cutting had 104 T20s to his name and his best score with the bat was 46 and best bowling figures had two three-wicket hauls. However, just two games into Afghans' T20 league, Cutting's best bowling now has a five-for and his best score is 71.