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Cricket

'Afridi naya, impact purana' - Fans abuzz as Shaheen Shah Afridi scalps four wickets in first over of Vitality Blast T20 game

Shaheen Shah Afridi created a new record scalping four wickets in the first over of a game in the Vitality Blast T20. Here's more.

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Shaheen Shah Afridi, Nottinghamshire

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Nottinghamshire (Source: Twitter)

Pakistan pace sensation Shaheen Shah Afridi was at his cruel best when he set a new world record by dismissing four batters in the first over of the innings in a Vitality Blast T20 game in England. Never before in the game's history has anyone gotten four wickets in the opening over of any game.

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Shaheen, who is renowned for his first-over brilliance, bowled with speed and accuracy to outperform the Warwickshire top order. Bowling for Nottinghamshire, he dismissed Alex Davies (0) with the first ball of the game and his spell. On the second ball of the over, he removed Chris Benjamin for a duck from the game.

However, Shaheen fell short of his hat trick but managed to pick up his third wicket of the over by removing Dan Mousley (1) on the fifth ball. On the final ball of the over, he then dismissed Ed Barnard for a duck to set a new record. Videos of the mesmerizing over have done several rounds on key social media sites. Notably, Shaheen picked up four wickets in the first over while allowing no runs to be scored, making it a wicket-maiden as well.

Here’s the viral video:

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Despite Shaheen’s heroics, Warwickshire defeated Nottinghamshire by 2 wickets

Despite Shaheen's valiant efforts, Warwickshire defeated Nottinghamshire by two wickets thanks to Robert Yates' competent T20 innings. Yates scored 65 runs off of 46 balls, including 3 fours and 5 sixes. Warwickshire was able to win the match by a slim margin thanks in part to modest performances from Glenn Maxwell (19 off 12 balls), Jacob Bethell (27 off 21 balls), and Jake Lintott (27 off 22 balls).

This is encouraging news for Shaheen, who is expected to play again for Pakistan in Test matches shortly. He suffered a knee injury while fielding in the deep in Sri Lanka in July of last year. He hasn't played a single Test game since then. Shaheen has been playing well lately and wants to capitalise on it by helping Pakistan defeat the Sri Lankans in a series this July. In this year's ODI World Cup, Shaheen's performance will be critical to Pakistan's participation.

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Here's how fans reacted:

featured Shaheen Shah Afridi Twitter Reactions