Shaheen Shah Afridi hugs Babar Azam: Pakistan’s best bowler and batsman were against each other in the Pakistan Super League tonight.
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During the 11th match of the ongoing sixth season of the Pakistan Super League between Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars in Karachi, Lahore Qalandars spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi castled Karachi Kings batsman and his Pakistan captain Babar Azam with a peach of a delivery.
It all happened on the penultimate delivery of the third over when Azam’s attempt to play an incoming delivery on the leg side saw him missing the line of the delivery only to get bowled. Afridi, who has a knack of sending back batsmen in such a manner, added another dismissal under his belt.
Given the skills of both the players, it was a delight for Qalandars’ fans that Afridi dismissed Azam without letting him cause any damage. In what was a rare failure for the batsman, he ended up scoring 5 (5). The highlight of the dismissal was Afridi hugging Azam sideways soon after dismissing him.
After Lahore captain Sohail Akhtar won the toss and invited the hosts in to bat, defending champions Karachi posted a handsome 186/9 in 20 overs. Despite losing three premier batsmen inside the powerplay, Kings thrived due to individual half-centuries by opening batsman Sharjeel Khan (64) and all-rounder Mohammad Nabi (57).
With bowling figures of 4-0-27-3, Afridi yet again emerged as the pick of the bowlers for Lahore. Apart from the left-arm bowler, the likes of Samit Patel, Haris Rauf, Ahmed Daniyal and David Wiese picked a wicket apiece.
Shaheen Shah Afridi hugs Babar Azam
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