American Premier League 2023: Top run-getters and wicket-takers after Premium Indians vs Premium Paks semifinal (Updated) ft. Sunny Patel
Premium Indians beat Premium Paks in the first semifinal of the American Premier League 2023 by six runs on Saturday, December 30, at the Moosa Stadium in Pearland.
Premium Indians opted to bat first in the knockout game reduced to ten overs per innings. West Indies all-rounder Rakheem Cornwall gave a brisk start, with 41 off 20, scoring three boundaries and four sixes, at a strike rate of 205.
Asad Pathan played a decent knock of 24 off 17, walloping two big sixes, as Premium Indians scored 103-5. Ali Umair (2 for 18) and Ariful Haque (2 for 16) claimed two scalps each, while Nakash Ali (1 for 21) added one.
Premium Paks were dealt an early blow in their chase, with opener Zeeshan Ashraf departing for a nought. Stephen Wiig and Sunny Patel got the wickets of Ryan Scott-I (14 off six) and Suliman Arabzai (19 off 12) before the duo could further cause any damage.
Ariful Haque made 16 off 11 before he was caught by Adil Bhatti off his own bowling. Hamad Hussain’s late fireworks (22 off 8) was not enough to get his team past the finish line as Premium Paks fell six runs short.
On that note, let’s take a glance at the highest run-scorers and wicket-takers of the American Premier League 2023.
American Premier League 2023 Most Runs List
The run-scoring charts of the American Premier League 2023 remain the same after the league stage. Ravi Bopara is the only player to feature in the top-10 from either Premium Indians or Premium Paks. However, Bopara didn’t play the semifinal, so the charts are the same.
Premium Afghans opener Usman Ghani leads with 176 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 145.45. He's the only player to notch up a century in this tournament. Premium Americans batter Gerhard Erasmus is second with 166 runs at a strike rate of 149.55. Erasmus won’t be a contender for the top spot, as his side is out of the competition.
However, Premium Americans batter Aaron Jones is certainly a challenger for Usman Ghani. With 144 runs in six games, the local boy is third. His teammate Kevin Stout is in the next slot with 118 runs in three innings.
American Premier League 2023 Most Wickets List
Premium Paks pacer Ariful Haque claimed two wickets to enter the top-10 wicket-takers list in sixth. He's the only latest inclusion in the list with six wickets in five games at an economy rate of 6.91.
Premium Indians leg-spinner Sunny Patel added two wickets against Premium Paks in the semifinal to take his tally to eight dismissals and occupies the fourth position.
Stephen Wiig also picked a wicket but slid one position to seventh. Premium Windies spinners Hayden Walsh (16) and Raj Nannan lead the bowling charts in first and second place, respectively.