Pakistan pace sensation Shaheen Afridi once again proved that he is outstanding with the new ball after his match-winning performance against Peshawar Zalmi in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL). His two rattling deliveries in the first two balls against Mohammad Haris left the cricket world stunned. And it really looked like Shaheen was back to his best after his initial slump in the league. Captain Shaheen's five-wicket haul and Fakhar Zaman's 45-ball 96 helped Lahore Qalandars beat Zalmi by 40 runs in a high-scoring thriller at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing 242, Babar Azam and co were looking for a perfect start, but fell apart in Shaheen's brilliant spell. The star pacer broke the bat of Peshawar star Harris on the first ball of the innings. His fiery pace never bothered to let the batter free as he was clean bowled on the very next ball.
First ball: Bat broken ⚡
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 26, 2023
Second ball: Stumps rattled 🎯
PACE IS PACE, YAAR 🔥🔥#HBLPSL8 | #SabSitarayHumaray | #LQvPZ pic.twitter.com/VetxGXVZqY
Shaheen continued his form and sent Zalmi captain Babar back for 7 runs in his third over. His wicket came shortly after Zalmi recovered from a first-over shock. However, a brilliant delivery to dismiss the star batter helped the Qalandars put more pressure on their opponents.
.@iShaheenAfridi is 🔛 fire ❤️🔥
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 26, 2023
The perfect delivery to dismiss @babarazam258 ✨#HBLPSL8 | #SabSitarayHumaray | #LQvPZ pic.twitter.com/pHEIYuR9sl
Earlier with the bat, Shaheen's team put up a mammoth total of 241 runs on the board. Fakhar Zaman (96 off 45 balls), Abdullah Shafiq (75 off 41 balls) and Sam Billings (47 off 23 balls) scored the bulk of the runs and ensured that the Zalmi batters could not easily reach the score. In reply, Saim Ayub (51 off 34 balls), Kohler-Cadmore (55 off 23 balls) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (24 off 14 balls) put up a good fight but fell to 201-9 in 20 overs, with five wickets from Shaheen and two from Zaman Khan.
Lahore Qalandars will next face Islamabad United on Monday, while Peshawar Zalmi will face Karachi Kings on Wednesday, March 1.
However, there were mixed reactions on Twitter saying that the batting quality of the Pakistani players was very poor, which is why the 138-speed delivery broke the bat. But others have praised him for his excellent performances with the new ball.
Here are some reactions:
Best in the world 🔥
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) February 26, 2023
Shaheen >>> chumrah
— 🧑🎄 (@hrathod__) February 26, 2023
Actually the quality of the bat matters....
— King 18 (@10LCR1) February 26, 2023
He is currently one of the best left arm fast bowler 🔥
— Shoaib💗 (@Hey_Shoaib76) February 26, 2023
Currently worlds best new ball bowler tbh.
— Sachin Kumar Rout (@RoutSachin) February 26, 2023
Bhai, Bat Local quality ka tha. Bas 💀
— Datta (@SlayerDatta) February 26, 2023
Wade abbu wants to know your location
— Strange (@strange53596334) February 26, 2023
Unplayable stuff really that also on an absolute road pitch.
— Professor samuel oak (@prof_oak123) February 26, 2023
What a talent
Sirf 138 pace thi... aur bat tutgeya🤣🤣😭...kya chutiya quality ke bat hain😭
— Sandpaper👍 (@notacommonbruhh) February 26, 2023
Only thing relevant in PSL is shaheen pp bowling.
— . (@stankohli18) February 26, 2023
Warra quality bat for pakistani batsman
— Gabbar (@befikar_dhawan) February 26, 2023