Pakistan spearhead Shaheen Afridi delivered the goods with the new ball once again for his team, getting rid of the in-form Travis Head in the series-deciding ODI against Australia on Saturday (April 2). The left-arm pacer bowled on a slower ball that went on to hit the base of the batter’s off-stump. On the very […]
Pakistan spearhead Shaheen Afridi delivered the goods with the new ball once again for his team, getting rid of the in-form Travis Head in the series-deciding ODI against Australia on Saturday (April 2).
The left-arm pacer bowled on a slower ball that went on to hit the base of the batter’s off-stump. On the very first delivery of the game, the Pakistan quick showcased his magic with a ball too good for even Australia’s dangerous opener.
Head had smashed Pakistan to all corners for his blistering hundred in the series opener in Lahore. But he had no answers to the skill and the brilliance of Shaheen Afridi on this occasion. Made to look clueless by the greatness of the delivery, he was forced to make the long walk after a first-ball duck.
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Travis Head was sent back with a top ball from Shaheen Afridi
Heading into the decider, Pakistan would’ve banked heavily on Shaheen Afridi to produce important breakthroughs with the new ball. And the promising young speedster delivered that on the very first opportunity with the ball in hand.
Usually, Shaheen tends to pitch it absolute full for his first few deliveries with the idea to extract as much swing as he can from the thin-seamed white Kookaburra ball. Given the way he was standing at the crease, Head seems to have prepared for that.
But instead, the left-arm pacer bowled a loopy slower ball that evaded the batter’s downswing and crashed onto the base of the off-stump. Perhaps the only real error Head made was to not play it with a straight bat. He tried to flick this delivery and that gave the ball enough space to sneak in and thump on the stumps.
Doing what he does best- @iShaheenAfridi strikes on the very first delivery! #BoysReadyHain l #PAKvAUS pic.twitter.com/HwZKoW8rAO
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) April 2, 2022
This was definitely not the first and the last time that Shaheen Afridi gave Pakistan an early breakthrough with the white ball in hand. His excellent new-ball burst in Pakistan’s historic T20 World Cup 2021 win over India in Dubai is still fresh in memory. Overall, he has taken 23 first powerplay wickets in ODIs and 16 in the first six overs of T20Is.
