Afridi smashes Pakistan Peace XI to 5-wicket win

PESHAWAR: Shahid Afridi's quick unbeaten 66 runs off 19 balls laced with seven sixes and five boundaries, guided Pakistan Peace XI to a dramatic 5-wicket victory against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Peace XI in the Twenty20 Peace Cricket Match here Sunday.

There was thundering applause at the jam-packed Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium when Afridi came to the crease when his team had lost three wickets for 102 runs.

The boom boom Afridi faced just 19 balls, hit seven towering sixes and six boundaries all around the ground keeping the cheering crowd on their toes.

All-rounder Shahid Afridi, who has the honour of being the first batsman in the history to hit 400 sixes in all matches when he sent a ball by Sunil Narine sailing over the boundary line in the first Twenty20 match against West Indies in Saint Vincent, smashed an unbeaten 66 to finish the innings with a towering six smashing his team to the five-wicket victory.

Throughout his career, Afridi has hit a total of 52 sixes in 27 Tests, 314 sixes in 359 One Day Internationals and 34 sixes in 60 Twenty20 Internationals.

Afridi was supported by dashing wicket-keeper batsman promising Muhammad Rizwan who made vital 54 runs off 40 balls with six boundaries and two towering sixes.

Fawad Alam also made 27 runs off 26 balls with three boundaries and was another contributor in a comfortable win for the team led by legendary spinner Abdul Qadir.

Losing two wickets for 32 runs in seven overs, Fawad and Rizwan provided a 50-run partnership for the third wicket. When Fawad Alam retired hurt, Shahid Afridi took the charge and played some superb shots

For Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Peace XI, which was led by star batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Rauf claimed two wickets for 22 runs in a four-over spell, Shoaib Akhtar got one wicket for 31 in four overs, while Akram Raza and Rana Naveed Ul Hassan took one wicket each for 39 and 42 runs in their three-over spells respectively.

Earlier, Izamam Ul Haq won the toss and elected to bat first. His team set up a good target of 181 for the loss of six wickets.

For Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Peace XI team, Salim Malik was the star of the day who smashed 51 runs off 27 balls with six boundaries and two sixes toward the long-on boundary. Shahzeb Hasan made 46 runs off 32 balls with six boundaries and two sixes, while Muhammad Yousaf scored 37 runs off 27 balls with five boundaries. Imran Nazir scored 27 runs off 20 balls with six boundaries. Inzamam could make only 3 runs.

For Pakistan Peace XI, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razaaq took two wickets each for 29 and 34 runs respectively in their four-over spells. Khalil and Fawad Alam grabbed one wicket each for 24 and 16 runs in their four and three over spells respectively.

At the end of match, fromer cricketer and PTI Chairman Imran Khan, who was the chief guest, presented a cheque of Rs 100,000 million to wnning captain Abdul Qadir and man of the match award to Shahid Afridi for his all round performance.

Speaking on this occasion, Imran Khan pledged that sports stadiums would be constructed in all the districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He also announced launching of a Talent Hunt Scheme at Under-17 level to polish the youth for the future. He said sports playing facilities would also be provided to the youth of FATA as well. (APP)