During the second ODI of the series with Australia in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi made history by dismissing the first batsman of Australia on the first ball of the innings.
The milestone was reached by the left-arm pacer when he took the wicket on the first ball of the match of the Australian batsman Alex Carey.
Shaheen bowled his delivery outside off stump, which Carey was not able to play, and crashed into the stumps. The wicket gave Pakistan a perfect start to the innings.
Before Shaheen, the rare feat had been achieved by two Pakistan captains only. Legendary fast bowler Wasim Akram was the first to do so in 1993 when he removed Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower with the opening ball of an ODI in Karachi.
Then later, on the first ball of an ODI in Leeds, Waqar Younis bowled England batsman Marcus Trescothick, putting himself on the list in 2001.
However, Shaheen didn’t end there. He remained the spear bearer for Pakistan’s bowling line-up as he took a wicket again in the 47th over to dispatch Matthew Kuhnemann.
He then took his third wicket, when he dismissed Nathan Ellis, to make a fine 3 wickets for 36 runs in eight overs.
The Pakistani bowlers as a team, showed a disciplined performance and limited Australia to 231 for 9 wickets in 50 overs.
Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed and Arafat Minhas also had a valuable contribution to make and the hosts were able to keep the visitors under pressure during the game.
But Pakistan’s pursuit was not fruitful. The home side were at 74 runs for 5 wickets after 16 overs with 157 runs still needed.
Pakistan’s batting was not able to chase the target and Pakistan lost the match by 40 runs.
Also read: Shaheen eyes strong comeback in decisive ODI against Australia
