Dot balls are golden in limited-overs cricket and bowling several maidens in a single ODI is even rarer. United Arab Emirates’s (UAE) 17-year-old spinner Aayan Afzal Khan entered history books when he bowled maiden after maiden against Bahrain in ACC Men's Premier Cup clash.
Bahrain captain Haiden Butt won the toss and elected to bat first. The decision backfired as UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem introduced Aayan early in the innings and got the wicket of opener Shahbaz Badar in the fourth over itself. It caused a batting collapse as Rohan Mustafa got Junaid Aziz and Sohail Ahmed out for golden ducks in the next over. In his next over, Aayan got the wicket of other opener Muhammad Younis as well. Karthik Meiyappan joined the party too and got Fiaz Ahmed bowled for a single-digit score.
Bahrain were reduced to 5/27 in the 11th over. Skipper Butt and Abdul Majid tried to get the innings back on track but the latter got run out. Meanwhile Aayan kept a lid on runs. In the 25th over, he got his wicket as well. In the same over, he got the wicket of Rizwan Butt for a two-ball duck as well.
In the end, Bahrain got all out for 116. Aayan bowled his full quota of 10 overs including seven maiden overs. He conceded just six runs and picked up four wickets.
Aayan is now third on the list of bowlers who have bowled most maiden overs in an ODI innings. India's Bishan Singh Bedi and West Indies Phil Simmons have bowled eight maiden overs in an ODI innings each. A long list of bowlers including New Zealand's Sir Richard Hadlee and former Indian skipper Kapil Dev have bowled eight maiden overs in an innings.
In the run chase of 117, Majid pushed UAE on the back foot with the wickets of openers Aryan Lakra and Waseem in the powerplay overs. But in-form batters Vriitya Aravind and Mustafa's half-centuries helped UAE win the match by eight wickets with 22.2 overs to spare.
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