Shaheen Afridi’s blistering cameo from No. 5 was ended by Pakistan teammate Shadab Khan as Lahore Qalandars sealed an overdue first win in the 2024 Pakistan Super League.

The back-to-back defending champions were put in to bat by Shadab’s Islamabad United and did not start well, falling to 30-3 in the seventh over. Lahore skipper Shaheen then sprung a surprise, promoting himself to No.5. While Shaheen’s batting has come on leaps and bounds over the past year or so, it was just the second occasion Shaheen has batted as high as five in a T20 having done so once in last year’s PSL.

The move up the order worked. Shaheen blasted four sixes in a 14-ball stay at the crease, shifting the momentum in Lahore’s favour. His brief but effective time in the middle was ended by Shadab, who bowled the Pakistan T20I captain with a slightly flatter delivery.

Shaheen doing Afridi things 💥🚀#HBLPSL9 | #KhulKeKhel | #IUvLQ pic.twitter.com/B8A3VFCX6n

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 6, 2024

The pair then exchanged a high-five as Shaheen walked off the field.

Shaheen was dismissed with the score on 76 in the 11th over. His promotion had seen Lahore’s scoring rate increase from under 4.5 runs per over to around seven. Rassie van der Dussen anchored the innings with 66 before a late flurry from David Wiese got Lahore up to a competitive total of 162.

Lahore won the contest by 17 runs with a devastating new-ball burst effectively ending Islamabad’s hopes – Islamabad were 38-6 at one stage of the run chase. Zaman Khan finished with figures of 4-37. It was a welcome victory for Lahore, ending a seven-match winless run to kick off their campaign.

You can watch Shadab Khan dismiss Shaheen Afridi below:

©️ gets ©️

Shadab gets an important wicket 👊#HBLPSL9 | #KhulKeKhel | #IUvLQ pic.twitter.com/vE6sw7VqIN

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 6, 2024

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