Pakistan speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi had a great start to his stint at The Hundred as he picked two wickets in the first two balls in his maiden appearance in the tournament. Playing for the Welsh Fire in Cariff on Wednesday, the left-arm seamer was right on the money to begin with but ultimately also went on to concede five sixes in his last six deliveries. Afridi had picked up the second highest price bracker in England in the 2023 draft and his first two balls was enough indication of why continues to be rated highly around the cricket world.
In a rain-curtailed 40-ball match, Welsh Fire was to defend 95 against Manchester Originals, Afridi first got rid of Phil Salt with his characteristic inswinger that struck him on to the pads right in front of the stumps. His next ball was even better with the speedster getting the better of Laurie Evans with a yorker.
The Hundred's official Twitter account shared the video of Afridi's first two deliveries with the caption: "This is @iShaheenAfridi, everyone 🦅 #TheHundred."
Check out the video here:
Afridi's spell set the stage for a Welsh Fire victory as they went on to win the match by 9 runs. Other than Afridi, David Willey was the wicket-taker for the winning side, picking 2 wickets for 17 runs from his 10 balls. However, it was Luke Wells who was adjudged the Player of the Match for his 57 off 23 which helped Welsh get to 94/3.
For Manchester Originals, Jos Buttler and Max Holden each scored 37 off 18 balls with the wicketkeeper-captain also remaining not out till the end but that effort wasn't enough for them to cross the winning line. With the ball, Josh Little and Tom Hartley were the wicket-takers for Manchester Originals with Little scalping 2 for 22 and Hartley getting 1 for 7.