Naseem Shah, still only 18, produced a scintillating over with the new ball for South Punjab in their National T20 Cup clash against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The National T20 Cup is a Pakistani domestic T20 competition that comprises of six regional sides featuring the biggest names in Pakistani cricket. Naseem took the second over of the Khyber innings after South Punjab stumbled to 152 all out, with Shaheen Afridi taking 3-34 and Imran Khan claiming figures of 4-28 for Khyber.
Khyber’s opening batters were two established members of the Pakistan white-ball set-up – Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman. This did not faze young Naseem who had both batters on the ropes in a thrilling over.
After Rizwan left the first ball of Naseem’s over alone, he was beaten the following two deliveries by a pair of high pace out-swingers. Rizwan nudged the fourth delivery of the over into the leg-side to hand the strike to his partner, Fakhar.
Cramped for room, Fakhar could only pat the penultimate delivery of the over back to the bowler before getting beaten by a searing yorker off Naseem’s final ball. The ball struck Fakhar flush on the boot plumb in front. Naseem’s speeds in the over ranged from 142kph (88.2mph) to 146kph (90.7mph).
Naseem – who famously made his Test debut at the age of 16 – finished the day with impressive figures of 2-27 from his four overs, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a Khyber victory. Rizwan finished on 64 while Sahibzada Farhan – who played three T20Is for Pakistan in 2018 – top-scored with 74. Khyber eventually claimed victory by seven wickets.
You can watch the final five deliveries of Naseem’s over below:
What an over this is from Naseem Shah – just wait for the 144kph yorker to dismiss Fakhar Zaman 🔥pic.twitter.com/IxoFGYHJRH
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 25, 2021