Afridi gets Sehwag for duck to claim first hattrick in T10
MUMBAI: Shahid Afridi may have retired from i nternational cricket, but even at 37, he manages to grab the headlines as and when he gets a chance to play cricket at any level.
On Thursday, the former Pakistan all-rounder entered his name in the record books of cricket again by becoming the first player to take a hat-trick in the inaugural T10 League at Sharjah.
Afridi, who was leading Pakhtoons, dismissed South African Rilee Rossouw, West Indian DJ Bravo and former Indian opener Virender Sehwag off the first three deliveries of the fifth over to achieve this feat.
Riding on Afridi’s brilliance, his team beat the Sehwag-led Maratha Arabians by 25 runs in the second match of the tournament, which is being seen as a precursor to cricket’s entry into the Olympics.
After coming in to bowl the fifth over of the Arabians’ innings, Afridi first sent Ross- ouw back as the South African holed out to Najibullah Zadran at long-on while trying to clear the rope.
He then bowled a quicker delivery to trap Bravo plumb in front before dismissing his old rival Sehwag in similar fashion for duck.
Reduced to 46/5, it looked all over for Arabians, but England batsman Alex Hales gave them a semblance of a chance by smashing a 57 off 26 balls with the help of five fours and four sixes. In the end, the target proved too much for the Arabians as they could muster only 96/7 to lose by 25 runs.
Earlier, Afridi’s Pakhtoons posted 121/4 in the stipulated 10 overs, thanks to Fakhar Zaman’s 22-ball 45 and Liam Dawson’s 23-ball 44.