Nangarhar Leopards – APL 2018 squad and record

Fourth was still enough. The Leopards finished on six points with the worst net run rate on the table, −0.582, but three wins carried them past Kandahar Knights into the last semi-final place. Their wins came against Kandahar Knights on 6 October, against Kabul Zwanan on 12 October, and against Balkh Legends on 17 October — the last of those a six-wicket chase of 134 that showed what the side could do when its batting fired.

The same season also holds the two extremes of the tournament's batting record, both involving the Leopards. On 9 October they were on the wrong end of Hazratullah Zazai's 124 and his 144-run stand with Luke Ronchi. Ten days later, in the semi-final, they were bowled out for 64 in 13.1 overs — the lowest total recorded in the tournament. Nangarhar Cosmic is the 2026 name in the same city; it does not own the Leopards' results.

Ben Cutting is the only Leopard with a checked APL line on this page, as captain. The team's story is not an individual one: it is a side that beat three of the other four teams in the league (Kandahar, Kabul and Balkh all lost to the Leopards) and then collapsed in the one match that mattered most.