Shahid Afridi proves, yet again, why he’s considered one of the all-time greats of the cricketing world. During the second match of the ongoing T10 League at Sharjah, the former Pakistani skipper became the first player to score a hat-trick on December 14. His team, Pakhtoons, played against the Virender Sehwag-led Maratha Arabians, and batted first after losing the toss. Despite losing a wicket in the very first ball of the game, batsmen Fakhar Zaman (45*) and Liam Dawson (44) helped Pakhtoons to put a tough score of 121 on the board, by the end of 10 overs.
Sehwag’s Maratha Arabians got off to a poor start while chasing the target of 122, as they lost two of their top batsmen, Kamran Akmal (5) and Lendl Simmons (4), in the second over. And then came the 5th over when Afridi proved just why he was considered a lethal cricketer before retiring from International cricket.
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On the first ball of the 5th over, Afridi removed Rilee Rossouw on a delivery which was going outside the off stump. The South African batsman shot it towards the long-on and was caught by Najibullah Zadran.
On the second, it was DJ Bravo who was dismissed by Afridi on a duck. Another less-flighted delivery from Afridi directly hit Bravo’s pads, and he was given LBW out.
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On the third ball, it was the Arabian skipper, Virender Sehwag, who lost his wicket. Afridi bowled the same ball and removed Virender Sehwag just like Bravo, and that too on a golden duck.
.@SAfridiOfficial‘s heroics helped @PakhtoonTeam defeat @MarathaArabians in game 2 of Heera T10 League. #BusAbDus pic.twitter.com/IK71pbULzS
— T10 League (@T10LeagueTweets) December 14, 2017
After losing three consecutive wickets in an over, Arabians were reduced to 46/5 after which opener Alex Hales shifted the gear and smashed 57 runs off just 26 balls including 4 sixes and 5 fours. No other batsman other than Hardus Viljoen (11) and Hales could score in double digits. The Arabians could only score 96 runs in 10 overs and lost the game by 25 runs.
