Watch: Shaheen Afridi does his magic again, picks up four wickets in the first over in T20 Blast

Shaheen Afridi showcased his mastery over the new-ball swing yet again as he bagged four wickets inside the first over of a T20 Blast game played on Friday (June 30). The Pakistan speedster gave an excellent start to Nottinghamshire in their defence against Warwickshire, dismissing the entire top-order of the opposition. 

With his ability to swing the ball prodigiously at high speeds and left-arm angle, Shaheen was always been a handful of a challenge to face for players at the top at the international stage. There was little hope then for Warwickshire’s England hopefuls to survive at the domestic level once the premier Pakistan quick got into his act perfectly. 

Shaheen Afridi used his trademark yorker length inswinger to great effect on this occasion and dismissed three of his four first-over scalps with it. He got the other one out caught in the closing region to another full pitcher that swung away and evaded the sweet spot on the bat. 

Defending their modest score of 168/10, the Notts managed to reduce Warwickshire to 7/4 by the close of the first over itself thanks to their impactful recruit from the land of hospitality, with Shaheen going for the kill from the word go. 

Shaheen Afridi’s magical first-over 4-fer

For the first wicket, Shaheen Afridi got one to tail in late into the right-hander Alex Davies. The ball swung in past the batter’s downswing and hit him just about in front of the leg-stump, with the umpire not shying away from raising his finger instantly. 

The second ball of the over proved fatal for Chris Benjamin, who suffered a duck first-ball after he tried an ill-advised sweep and missed the inswinger by a mile. The batter shuffled across his crease to try and execute the stroke but the speed on the delivery and late swing got the better of him. 

Shaheen Afridi, you cannot do that!! 💥 https://t.co/ehXxmtz6rX pic.twitter.com/wvibWa17zA

— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) June 30, 2023

Next to get out was left-hander Dan Mousley after he played a drive through the covers but could only hit the Shaheen away swinger to the hands of Olly Stone, the fielder taking a brilliant low-catch to give his side the third breakthrough. 

Rounding off his magical four-fer, the Nottinghamshire ace got Ed Barnard bowled of an interesting ball from over-the-wicket angle for the left-arm quick. The delivery initially shaped up to come into the right-hander but left him at the last moment to disrupt the stumps directly on a low full-toss.