Shaheen Afridi scripts these records with four-fer vs WI (ODIs)
What's the story
Pakistan recorded a thrilling five-wicket win against West Indies in the ODI series opener at the Brian Lara Stadium, Trinidad. Debutant Hasan Nawaz scored an unbeaten 63 runs off just 54 balls, helping his team accomplish the 281-run target. Meanwhile, Shaheen Afridi's four-wicket haul in the first innings was also instrumental in Pakistan's triumph. With this spell, he broke a special record of star Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan.
Bowling performance
Shaheen's 4-fer restricts WI to 280/10
Shaheen, yet again, struck in his very first over, removing Brandon King for four. WI skipper Shai Hope (55) was his second victim as this scalp broke a 64-run partnership. Romario Shepherd (4) and Shamar Joseph (8) fell to him in the death overs as West Indies were folded for 280 in 49 overs. Besides Hope, Evin Lewis (60) and Roston Chase (53) made fifties.
Record
Shaheen goes past Rashid
Shaheen finished with four wickets for 51 runs across eight overs. With this spell, the left-arm pacer broke Rashid's world record for the most wickets by a bowler in his first 65 ODIs, according to howstat.com. The achievement took Shaheen's ODI wicket tally to 131, surpassing Rashid's previous record of 128. The pacer's average across 65 ODIs is a sensational 24.01 as his economy is 5.65. Shaheen now owns seven wickets across three ODIs against WI at 17.57.
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Eighth four-fer in ODIs
The one in Trinidad was his eighth four-wicket haul in ODIs as his tally also includes three fifers. Notably, Shaheen was playing his maiden ODI in West Indies.
Milestone
Shaheen completes 350 international wickets
Not only did Shaheen break Rashid's record, but he also completed 350 wickets in international cricket. He became the 11th Pakistani bowler to achieve this feat. Having played 177 games, the pacer has raced to 351 scalps at 24.77 (5W: 7). While he boasts 116 Test wickets at 27.88, 104 of his scalps have come in T20Is at 22.25. The record for most international wickets for Pakistan is held by Wasim Akram (916).
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Three-fer for Naseem
Naseem Shah also played a crucial role in cleaning up the WI tail, finishing with 3/55 from eight overs. The right-arm pacer has raced to 53 wickets across 29 ODIs at 24.35. The pacer was playing his maiden game versus WI.
Chase
Here's how Pakistan crossed the line
Coming to the run chase, Pakistan faced early setbacks with Saim Ayub (5) and Abdullah Shafique (29) falling cheaply. However, Mohammad Rizwan (53) and Babar Azam (47) steadied the ship with a promising partnership of 55 runs for the third wicket before the team was further reduced to 180/5. Despite these challenges, Nawaz (63*) and Hussain Talat's (41*) stellar performance ensured Pakistan's victory. The duo added 104* runs for the sixth wicket to take their team home in 48.5 overs.