Pakistan Super League 2023

Watch: Shaheen ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi slams leg-side six into the stands, brings up first professional fifty after promotion to No.6

by Wisden Staff March 7, 2023 - 1:57pm 1 minute read

Watch: Shaheen Shah Afridi slammed a fifty on a rare foray up the order to briefly give Lahore Qalandars hopes of an unlikely comeback against Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) today (March 7, 2023).

Chasing 208 to win, Lahore Qalandars got off to an awful start, slumping to 24-4 at the end of the powerplay. At the fall of the fourth wicket, Shaheen took responsibility, walking out to bat. However, the Lahore Qalandars captain was unable to arrest the slump immediately, scoring one off nine balls. Hussain Talat, his partner at the other end, was not instantly able to get going either, with Lahore Qalandars only crawling to 30-4 at the end of the eighth over.

In the 10th over, though, Shaheen burst into life, carting Aamer Jamal for a six and a four. He then continued in a similar vein, reaching his fifty off 34 balls in the 17th over by hitting Wahab Riaz over mid off for a boundary. The left-handed batter hit five sixes and three boundaries during his 36-ball stay at the crease.

Unfortunately for Lahore Qalandars, it was not enough as they slipped to a 35-run defeat against Peshawar Zalmi at Rawalpindi. Shaheen, however, enjoyed a superb game, having bagged a four-wicket haul earlier in the afternoon to go with his half-century.