Pakistan speedster Shaheen Afridi picked up four wickets in four balls during Hampshire’s win over Middlesex in the Vitality T20 Blast series. A bowling masterclass from Afridi where he picked up 6 wickets to power his side to a victory.
Hampshire had set up a target of 142 runs to win, but Middlesex were slumped for 121 in 18 overs. Apart from Afridi’s six wickets, Felix Organ picked two wickets while Ryan Stevenson and MS Crane got one wicket each to their name. Middlesex were edging closer to victory, with John Simpson having scored 48 off 40 balls leading their way, but Afridi blew them away in the 18th over with four wickets on consecutive deliveries.
Shaheen Afridi picks perfect four consecutive wickets to lead Hampshire to victory
Middlesex needed 23 off 18 balls with four wickets in hand when Shaheen Afridi was handed the 18th over. The first two deliveries of the over, he gave away singles and the next four consecutive balls were all wickets, thrashing the Middlesex team right there to a loss.
He took the wickets of Stevie Eskinazi, Luke Hollman, John Simpson, Steve Finn, Thilan Walallawita and Tim Murtagh. Shaheen Afridi celebrated an astonishing 6 for 19 – Hampshire’s best ever T20 bowling figures, and the county’s second format hat-trick in their history. He became only the sixth player to take four wickets in four balls in a T20.
That's it. That's the tweet. pic.twitter.com/tmh1gdBCcg
— Hampshire Cricket (@hantscricket) September 20, 2020
Hampshire end their 6 games losing spell yet finish at the bottom of the table
Hampshire ended their six-game losing spell but still finished at the bottom of the group stage for the first time since 2007. Having chosen to bat, Hampshire had a slow start and could only set up a target of 141 on the slow pitch. However, Middlesex fell short of 20 runs in their chase that was credited by 4 wickets off the hands of Shaheen Afridi.
