Shaheen Shah Afridi, Pakistan’s top fast bowler, gave the most costly over of his One Day International
(ODI) career in the opening match against New Zealand on Saturday.
New Zealand chose to bat first after winning the toss and despite losing early wickets, they took advantage of the batting-friendly conditions to complete their allotted 50 overs with a total of 330/6.
After 43 overs, New Zealand had a score of 230 for 5 wickets, and it looked like they might not reach 300 runs. Glenn Phillips launched a strong attack in the last few overs, helping its score over 300 runs.
Particularly after Haris Rauf had to leave the pitch because of an injury, the Pakistan bowlers appeared hopeless.
Shaheen Afridi suffered the most from the attack; he surrendered 25 runs in the last over of the innings and Phillips reached his century there as well.
This over was the most expensive in Shaheen’s ODI career, beating his previous record of 24 runs given up against Australia in Hobart last year.
Phillips finished unbeaten on a spectacular 106 off 74 balls, with a blistering final 56 runs coming off just 19 balls, as New Zealand set Pakistan a daunting goal of 331.
