The first over by Shaheen Shah Afridi at Trent Bridge on Friday reminded the fans of a Formula One race as it was full of bursts of adrenaline. The Pakistani fast bowler, who is currently representing Nottinghamshire in the T20 Blast, got four Birmingham Bulls wickets in the first over. Unfortunately for him, despite his heroics, Nottinghamshire lost the rain-affected game by two wickets.
Shaheen’s start was less than ideal as he gave up five wides off his first ball before taking wickets with his second, third, fifth, and sixth legal balls. Alex Davies, the captain of the Birmingham Bears, stumbled to the ground after failing to avoid Shaheen’s toe-crushing yorker.
Chris Benjamin, who was batting next, attempted to play the planned scoop but was clean-bowled. Two singles and two more wickets came off the final two balls, with Ed Barnard being bowled first ball by a superb yorker and Dan Mousley being caught by Stone at short cover with a stunning one-handed catch.
Shaheen Afridi, you cannot do that!! 💥 https://t.co/ehXxmtz6rX pic.twitter.com/wvibWa17zA
— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) June 30, 2023
Rain played a significant role in Nottinghamshire’s defeat by two wickets, despite his heroics. Olly Stone, another injury loss for Nottinghamshire, hobbled off after just delivering three balls.
Birmingham won the game thanks to massive contributions from Rob Yates who scored 65 off 46 balls, Glenn Maxwell who notched up 19 and Jake Lintott remained not out on 27. Additionally, Nottinghamshire gave up 22 extra points, which did not assist their situation.
Unfortunately, we lost: Shaheen Shah Afridi
Shaheen Shah Afridi spoke to the media about his blistering first over in the T20 Blast. He said, “We deserved to win but they played well in the last few overs after the rain. It was the first time I took four wickets in my first over. It was good but if we would have won the game that would have been nice. Unfortunately, we lost.”
The Pakistan bowler then shed light on the game and how his team ended up on the losing end. He said, “Rain delay affected the game. It changed the game. We were not able to grip the ball but that’s cricket you can’t control the weather.”
