BOOM BOOM Shahid Afridi’s maximums guides Sylhet to victory in trademark style

For people who think Pakistan T20 captain Shahid Afridi’s cricket heydays are over, they may want to look at his recent form in the Bangladesh Premier League.

The 35-year-old, who will be leading Pakistan into the 2016 World Twenty20 in India, seems to have hit good form just in time. Afridi’s performance for the Sylhet Superstars, and the three-match T20 series against England in the UAE, can only be seen as a good omen for the men in green.

On Wednesday, Sylhet captained by Afridi were pitted against Dhaka Dynamites who were being led by former Sri Lankan veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara.

Superstars opted to bowl first after winning the toss and were given a target of 158 to win in an all-important match to savour themselves a chance of qualifying for the last-four.

Sangakkara scored 48 off 35 while Nasir Hossain contributed 31 off 23. Abdul Razzak accounted for two batsmen for the Superstars.

In their chase, Sylhet rode on man-of-the-match Ravi Bopara and Junaid Siddique’s half-centuries to bring the game to a knife’s edge.

In the 18th over, Afridi walked in with 19 needed off 13 balls. A five-run penultimate over from Mustafizur Rahman set a 10-run target for Sylhet in the last over of the match.

Afridi started the over with a single to give the strike to Sohail Tanvir, who was bowled on the next ball. Mushfiqur Rahim, who came on for Tanvir, then managed a single to give the strike to Afridi again. And with eight runs needed off the last three balls, Afridi went on one knee and chipped a full-length delivery past the short fine-leg fielder for a six.

The crowd went wild as Afridi went for the same shot on the fifth ball of the last over and produced another maximum to guide his team home.

Speaking at the the post-match presentation ceremony, Afridi said his team will take the small chance that has been presented to them to qualify for the last-four.

“I think we have a small chance to qualify but we need to take it. We didn’t bowl well in the last four overs. Tomorrow we have to win by a big margin and we will sit tonight and prepare a plan for it,” said Afridi.

Meanwhile, losing captains Sangakkara said: “We were a few runs short in the match. It was a 160-170 wicket.”