Pakistan premier pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi lived up to the hype and delivered a stupendous performance against India on September 2 (Saturday) in Pallekele. The left-arm seamer bowled with great venom and aggression in overcast conditions offering immense assistance to one of the best bowlers in world cricket. Afridi swung the ball both ways, bowled in the right channels and asked plenty of questions from the Indian batters.
The Indian batters tried their best to negate Afridi but as it turned out, the Pakistan pacer proved too good for four Men in Blue batters. Afridi's first strike was of opposition captain Rohit Sharma. After being handed a lifeline on the second delivery of the match by Fakhar Zaman, the Indian skipper tried hard to negate the swinging deliveries from Pakistan seamers. He played and missed on numerous occasions before Afridi delivered an absolute peach to rock Rohit's off-pole.
A good length delivery that jagged back into Rohit brought the 'Hitman's' downfall. The ball snuck in between Rohit's inside edge and his pad before dislodging the off-stump.
Afridi then found the inside edge of Kohli's willow and the ball went back to the right-handed batter's stumps. India were rocked early and it was Afridi's magic that did the trick for Pakistan once again.
After the first innings, Afridi spoke with the host broadcasters Star Sports and revealed whose wicket he enjoyed the most.
"That was our plan with the new ball. I think both (Virat and Rohit) were crucial wickets, every batter is the same for me. But I think I liked Rohit's wicket better," Afridi said.
Afridi finished with an excellent figures of 4/35 in 10 overs, including two maiden overs. Apart from Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah each bagged three wickets.
For India, Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya played terrific knocks and bailed the team out of a situation of great uncertainty. Kishan scored 82 runs off 81 balls with the help of nine fours and two sixes while Hardik scored 87 runs off 90 balls with the help of seven fours and a six. As a result, India managed to put in a competitive total of 266/10 in 48.5 overs.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
Watch: Frustrated Haris Rauf gives angry send-off to India's rescue man Ishan Kishan; fans react after video goes viral
Watch: Shaheen Afridi stuns Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli with wonderous deliveries, make Indian superstars look like greenhorns; video viral
