New Zealand's Anton Devcich came close but Afghanistan's Hazratullah Zazai went the whole hog.

The Gulbahar Afghanistan Premier League seemed to have unearthed a gem as the 20-year-old, just three T20 Internationals and two ODIs old, cashed the first century of the tournament.

The opener's fearless 124 from 55 deliveries, with 12 boundaries and nine mighty sixes at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday night, made short work of the 189-run chase as Kabul Zwanan aced the Nangarhar Leopards by seven wickets.

Southpaw Zazai unleashed a brutal assault on the Leopards, rocketing to his half century from just 17 deliveries and then ushered in the landmark from 44 deliveries with 12 boundaries and six sixes, to make a mockery of the target.

Zazai is now the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 158 runs with teammate Laurie Evans in second with 148 runs.

Earlier, left-hander opener Anton Devcich finished up unbeaten on 94 as the Leopards mounted 188 for five.

Devcich and Najeeb Tarakai had given the Leopards a good start and they were also aided some wayward bowling by Zwanan's left-arm pacers Wayne Parnell and Fareed Ahmed.

Rashid Khan brought himself on in the seventh over to control things a little bit and was tidy in his opening over, giving away just three runs.

But a breakthrough was proving to be elusive with both Devcich and Tarakai both in sublime touch. The standout shot was Tarakai flawlessly whipping Fareed Ahmed off his pads for a six as the Leopards moved to 77 for no wicket. Tarakai had made 32 from 28 deliveries with three boundaries and two sixes, by then.

Devcich and Tarakai got stuck into the bowlers with the eighth and the ninth overs, bowled by left-arm spinner Zahir Shehzad and Fareed Ahmed, leaking 18 runs each.

Devcich smashed a boundary and a six off consecutive balls and then wrapped it up with a six off the penultimate delivery bowled by Zahir.

Meanwhile, Tarakai, who had produced that fine flick off his pads, followed it up with a boundary after which Devcich added the finishing touches with a six off the penultimate ball.

There were quite a few worried faces in the Zwanan camp as the Leopards had raced to 100 for no loss in the 10th over. Devcich then brought up his half-century from 32 deliveries, with a single off Rashid Khan.

Young left-arm spinner Shahidullah Kamal seemed to have answered Rashid Khan's prayers as the 19-year-old from Khost came on to bowl the 12th over and had Tarakai caught by Hazratullah Zazai at deep mid-wicket off his second ball.

The prospect of a 200 plus total had looked a probability but Rashid Khan, off-spinner Javed Ahmadi and Fareed Ahmed put the brakes on to restrict the Leopards.

West Indian Andre Russell returned after missing the first two matches because of the WICB Regional Super50 domestic limited-overs cricket competition but he let Ben Cutting continue as skipper.

Brief scores:

Nangarhar Leopards: 188 for 5 in 20 overs (Anton Devcich 94 not out, Najeeb Tarakai 42) lost to Kabul Zwanan: 191 for 3 in 17.5 overs (Hazratullah Zazai 124, Luke Ronchi 26) by 7 wickets.

Copyright © 2018 Khaleej Times. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

Disclaimer: The content of this article is syndicated or provided to this website from an external third party provider. We are not responsible for, and do not control, such external websites, entities, applications or media publishers. The body of the text is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither we nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this article. Read our full disclaimer policy here.