Worcestershire all-rounder Wayne Parnell impressed with the ball but finished on the losing side in the Afghanistan Premier League final in Sharjah today.
Parnell picked up two wickets in his first over as his side, Kabul Zwanan, looked to defend a total of 132-9 after electing to bat.
The 29-year-old returned to the attack to claim a third scalp but opponents, Balkh Legends, won by four wickets with 11 balls to spare.
Parnell had gone in at number three and was Kabul’s joint second highest scorer with 21 before becoming one of five victims of leg spinner Qais Ahmed (4-0-18-5).
When Balkh batted, former Worcestershire T20 player Colin Munro (0) and Darwish Rasooli (4) fell to the fourth and sixth deliveries of Parnell’s opening over.
When he came back into the attack, Mohammad Nabi (6) was caught behind and Parnell ended with figures of 4-0-35-3.
But Chris Gayle (56) and Ravin Bopara (32 not out) denied Parnell the chance to add to his Vitality Blast triumph with the Rapids.
Parnell had helped Kabul to thrash Paktia Panthers by 90 runs in the semi-finals.
Colin Ingram (44), Laurie Evans (31) and skipper Rashid Khan (35 not out) helped Kabul reach an imposing 192-9 in their 20 overs.
Parnell took the new ball and claimed a crucial scalp in the first over of the innings in dismissing Paktia skipper Mohammad Shahzad.
He bowled two overs for 10 runs and was not required to return for the climax of the innings,
Paktia subsided to 102 all out in just 14.5 overs.
