The Hundred 2023: Debutant Shaheen Afridi shines as Welsh Fire beat Manchester Originals in rain-hit match

Shaheen makes the Hundred look easy - Plays of the Day

By Sam Drury
BBC Sport

The Hundred, men's competition; Welsh Fire v Manchester Originals

Welsh Fire 94-3 (40 balls): Wells 57 (23); Little 2-22

Manchester Originals 85-4 (40 balls): Buttler 37* (18); Willey 2-17, Shaheen 2-24

Welsh Fire won by nine runs

Scorecard, Table

Shaheen Afridi took wickets with his first two balls in The Hundred as Welsh Fire beat Manchester Originals in a rain-shortened game at Sophia Gardens.

With the match reduced to 40 balls per side, Fire opener Luke Wells smashed a stunning 57 from 23 balls to take the home side up to 94-3.

Debutant Shaheen then trapped Phil Salt and Laurie Evans lbw with the first two balls of the Originals innings.

The Originals recovered but came up nine runs short, finishing on 85-4.

Shaheen gets two wickets in two balls

What else do you need to know?

  • Welsh Fire won their first match of The Hundred in 2023 after losing all eight of their games in 2022.

  • Wells hit the first legal ball of the match - after a wide from Josh Tongue - for four and went on to hit another six boundaries and three sixes.

  • After taking wickets with his first two balls, Shaheen saw four of his last five deliveries hit for four by Max Holden.

  • England white-ball captain Jos Buttler hit an unbeaten 37 from 18 balls, including three sixes, but the onslaught came too late for the Originals.

'I was getting used to the rules!' - what they said

Match Hero Wells talking to Sky Sports: "The decision came pretty last minute when we knew the match was going to be reduced. We were keen to have a left-right combination to take advantage of any short boundaries and thankfully it paid off.

"It probably helped not having too much time to think about it. I didn't have a clue what was going on half the time. I was getting used to the rules! It was good fun. I just went with it and it came off."

Fan drops a crowd catch after Wells six

You can watch Hundred matches on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer every Wednesday and Saturday throughout the competition, alongside both finals on Sunday, 27 August.

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