Shaheen shines at sizzling Headingley

LEEDS, England: For the second match in a row, Mohammad Amir wasn’t among the wicket-takers for Pakistan. And for second time in a row, it was the 19-year-old Shaheen Shah Afridi, who ripped through the opposition’s batting line-up to keep the national team in the hunt for a place in the World Cup semi-finals.

Shaheen became the youngest player in World Cup history to take a four-wicket haul as his 4-47 helped Pakistan restrict Afghanistan to 227-9 in another do-or-die World Cup match here at Headingley on Wednesday.

While Amir wasn’t rewarded with any wicket, finishing with figures of 10-1-41-0 – his first wicketless outing in this World Cup – Shaheen was in full flow as he followed his three-wicket haul against New Zealand with another impressive showing.

The Afghans were never in the hunt for a big total after opting to bat first on a bright sunny morning on a wicket that seemed to have been imported from Asia.

With Shaheen in top gear and Imad Wasim (2-48) and Wahab Riaz (2-29) also chipping, the Afghans were never really able to put up any worthwhile partnerships. Asghar Afghan (42 from 35 balls) and Najibullah Zardan (42 from 54 balls) were the top scorers while opener Rahmat Shah (35 from 43 balls) was the only other batsman with any substantial contribution.

Afghanistan were off to a flying start as openers Rahmat Shah and Gulbadin Naib put on 27 from 27 balls before Shaheen got into action. The left-armer was greeted by Gulbadin with two fours when he replaced Imad Wasim but he responded with two wickets of successive deliveries. The Afghan captain was the first to go as he edged one to Sarfaraz Ahmed behind the stumps. But umpire Nigel Llong turned down the appeal.

Next ball it was the prolific Hashmatullah Shahidi who fell trying to hit an angling delivery through the leg side only to balloon it towards where Imad Wasim took a comfortable catch.

Shaheen’s third victim was Najibullah Zardan, Afghanistan’s top-scorer. Just when the Afghans were bringing their innings on track, Najibullah tried to hit Shaheen through extra cover only to drag the ball onto off stump.

Shaheen’s party continued when he dismissed Rashid Khan with a slower ball. He bowled almost an offcutter beating Rashid all end up and Fakhar Zaman made it 210-8 by taking a simple catch at mid-off.

Pakistan wrapped up the Afghan innings by taking their last four wickets within a span of 25 runs to keep the target under 230 on a tricky wicket.