Pakistani pace sensation Shaheen Afridi etched his name in history on Saturday. The left-arm pacer became the first bowler to claim 50 wickets in the opening over of a T20 innings. The feat unfolded during the fifth and final T20I between Pakistan and New Zealand at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Shaheen Afridi – The trailblazer
This remarkable feat adds another feather to Afridi’s already impressive cap. With a total of 262 wickets in his T20 career, the former Pakistan T20I skipper has proven himself a master of taking wickets early on. Even more impressive is his economy rate of 6.10 for these first-over wickets, demonstrating his ability to strike early while keeping the runs in check.
Afridi’s 50th victim was Tom Blundell, who was left bamboozled by a scorching delivery and clean bowled. This dismissal solidified Afridi’s position at the top of the leaderboard for most wickets taken in the first over of T20s. Following him is India’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a distance behind with 43 wickets.
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