Shaheen Afridi stole the show with his performance in the opening over, taking four wickets to give the Outlaws an incredible start. But despite his heroics, their two wicket loss to Birmingham Bears on Friday meant Nottinghamshire Outlaws lost out on a spot in the quarterfinals of the ongoing T20 Blast.
The Outlaws were unable to defend the 169-run target despite Shaheen Afridi getting four wickets in the first over, as Rob Yates led the Bears’ 169-run pursuit with a 46-ball 65. However, Alex Davies (0), Chris Benjamin (0), Dan Mousley (1), and Ed Bernard (0), respectively, were all out by the Pakistani bowler.
The opening ball of the second innings saw Shaheen trap Davies LBW with a toe-crushing yorker before hitting Benjamin’s off-stump with the very next pitch.
Shaheen took out Mousley on the fifth delivery of the over thanks to an incredible one-handed grab by Ollie Stone. Shaheen concluded his over by throwing another magnificent yorker to castle Bernad.
The brilliance of Shaheen Afridi is currently trending on social media.
Shaheen’s efforts were in in vain, though, as Yates led the Bears’ assault with five sixes and three fours while he was in the middle of the field.
Following his expulsion, Jake Lintott (27 not out) and Jacob Bethell (27) made significant contributions as the Bears completed the total chase with five balls remaining.
Earlier, the Outlaws posted a total of 168 on the board thanks to Tom Moore’s 42-ball 73. This was notable because it was their sixth consecutive victory in the T20 Blast.
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