Shahid Afridi initially grabbed headlines with his devastating hitting. His ability to hit long sixes earned him the nickname ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi.
As his career progressed, Afridi matured into a bowler and soon started winning matches with his spin bowling. In fact, his ODI record as a bowler is better than many experts – he took 395 ODI wickets during his career.
Afridi delivered many match-winning spells for Pakistan during his career spanning over two decades and one such magical performance came against West Indies on July 14, 2013.
After a scintillating 76 off 58 balls, Afridi took his team to a respectable total, Afridi also took the ball into his own hands and became the second-best bowling figures in ODI history.
In the first match of the ODI series against Pakistan, the hosts West Indies won the toss and decided to bowl first. West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo was looking to put pressure on the Pakistani line-up quickly and his bowlers did not let him down.
West Indies’ pace attack broke the top order and the visitors were reduced to 5 for 47 in the 21st over.
However, the partnership between Afridi and captain Misbah-ul-Haq provided some direction to the Pakistani batting. Afridi hit shots around the park before being dismissed for 76. Pakistan ended their innings at 224/9 in 50 overs.
The runs on the scoreboard did not appear to be enough and the Pakistan team needed some special effort from their bowlers.
In reply, West Indies also got off to a disappointing start and lost three wickets before the end of the 5th over. West Indies were hoping for a partnership to stabilize the innings, but Afridi soon crushed the hopes.
After dismissing Lendl Simmons for his first wicket (West Indies’ fourth), Afridi moved on to the rest of the batting line-up.
The West Indies batsmen were clueless and were bowled out for 98 in 41 overs. His figures became the second best bowling figures of ODIs in 2001, behind Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vaas for 8 for 19 against Zimbabwe.
Pakistan won by 126 runs.
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