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Watch: Shaheen Afridi completed an extraordinary caught and bowled to see off Dawid Malan, the world’s No.1 ranked T20I batsman, to get Pakistan’s defence off to the perfect start in the first T20I against England.
Pakistan had racked up their highest ever T20I total in the first innings, with an 150-run opening stand between Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam laying the platform for a score of 232-6. The first over cost just seven, with Malan, opening in the absence of Jos Buttler, out with an injured calf, dismissed in the second.
He was undone by two pieces of brilliance from Shaheen. First he foxed Malan with a slower ball that held up in the pitch, and then he stooped and dived spectacularly to claim the catch, with the ball miscued firmly back down the pitch.
“That is a quite brilliant catch from Shaheen Shah Afridi following through,” said Michael Atherton on Sky Sports commentary
“Stunning skill to be able to get down low and catch like Mike Atherton was suggesting, knees pumping,” added Stuart Broad.
While Pakistan’s chase wouldn’t all go quite that smoothly, Shaheen had given them the early upper hand.
Watch the spectacular Shaheen catch below:
A sensational effort from Shaheen Afridi 😱#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/1hSLmhMaDB
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 16, 2021