LONDON: At a central London hotel on Wednesday, I asked Shaheen Shah Afridi whether he had any dreams of emulating Pakistan’s legendary pace duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.The tall youngster smiled and replied, “Of course it’s my dream but Wasim and Waqar bhai were two of the greatest bowlers of all time. I might never come close to emulating them.”Two days later, the 19-year-old bowled a sizzling spell of pace bowling to become the youngest player to take a five-wicket haul in a World Cup. He took 6-35 from 9.1 overs, the best return by a Pakistan bowler at a World Cup, as Pakistan thrashed Bangladesh by 94 runs in their last group game.Shaheen finished the World Cup as one of the leading wicket-takers with 16 victims from just six appearances in the tournament.Looking for a face-saving win after crashing out of the World Cup, Pakistan posted 315-9. They needed their bowlers to rise to the occasion and help them end an otherwise frustrating World Cup campaign on a high.It was Shaheen who stepped forward and delivered a series of killer blows.The left-arm pacer, who was criticised for leaking away too many runs in a costly defeat against Australia in Taunton, got Pakistan the key wickets of Bangladesh dangerman Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal. He kept making inroads in the Bangladeshi innings by scalping Liton Dias. He finished off the job with two wickets from three balls in the 41st over to make sure that Pakistan would walk out of the tournament with four successive wins. First he got Mohammad Saifuddin but it was the wicket of the well-set Mahmudullah that must have reminded Pakistani fans of the glory days of Wasim and Waqar.Bowling at 142, Shaheen generated considerable reverse swing to shatter Mahmuddlah’s stumps and complete his first five-wicket haul. Shaheen completed the job in the 45th over by dismissing Mustafizur Rahman to finish with 6-35, the best-ever figures by a Pakistani bowler in World Cup history.
from The News International - Sports https://ift.tt/30dBZZN
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