Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan praised the Pakistani ace pacer Shaheen Afridi after the left-armer bagged a five-wicket haul in the 18th match of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 against Australia at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, India on Friday.
Pathan, 38, stated that Afridi getting a five-wicket haul — that too without conceding many runs — on a flat surface of Bengaluru was an exceptional effort by the 23-year-old as all the other Pakistani bowlers looked clueless.
“On this flat Bengaluru pitch getting a 5 wicket haul is top effort by Shaheen Afridi. Apart from him Pakistan bowling looking toothless! #PAKvAUS,” Irfan Pathan wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Pakistani bowlers — except Shaheen, Mohammad Nawaz and Iftikhar Ahmed — were taken to the cleaners by Australia’s opening duo of David Warner and Mitchell Marsh.
Australia were on their way to scoring 400 runs but Shaheen’s world-class effort at the death restricted the five-time World Champions under 370 and gave his batting side hope to chase down the target.
Afridi’s wickets were Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Warner and Marsh formed a 259-run stand and created history as that was Australia’s highest-ever opening stand in World Cup cricket. It was also the first time Pakistan conceded more than a 200-run partnership in World Cup cricket.
The opening stand was also Australia's second-highest for any wicket ever and the second-highest by any team ever.
Marsh scored 121 runs before Afridi dismissed him while Warner posted 163 on the scoreboard — the highest individual score against Pakistan in World Cup cricket, beating Andrew Symonds’ 143 in 2003.
Australia also became the team to score the most runs in an innings against Pakistan in the tournament's history, overtaking Sri Lanka who scored 344 earlier in the ongoing event in Hyderabad.
Pakistan made one change from the team defeated by India with Mir coming in for fellow leg spinner Shadab Khan.
Australia are unchanged following their win against Sri Lanka, their first in the tournament after two opening losses. Pakistan have two wins and one defeat.
- Shaheen Afridi