After a few indifferent matches, Pakistan pace attack seemed to have found its footing when they needed it the most as Bangladesh lost as many as three wickets in the powerplay in Match No. 31 of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 in Kolkata on Tuesday, October 31. Shaheen Afridi, who has gotten wickets but has lacked consistency got two early wickets dismissing Tanzid Tamim and Najmul Hossain Shanto in consecutive overs leaving Pakistan tottering at 6/2.
Shaheen, who was on 99 ODI wickets before the game, achieved the landmark of 100 wickets in the very first over of the match. Shaheen achieved the feat in just 51 matches as he became the third fastest to reach the landmark and the fastest pacer to do so. The left-armer surpassed Australia's Mitchell Starc, who achieved the feat in 52 games. Shaheen is also four games faster than India's Mohammed Shami and five games than Jasprit Bumrah to get to the milestone.
Pacers fastest to take 100 wickets
Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan) - 51 matches vs Bangladesh (Kolkata, 2023)
Mitchell Starc (Australia) - 52 matches vs Sri Lanka (Colombo, 2016)
Shane Bond (New Zealand) - 54 matches vs England (Adelaide, 2007)
Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh) - 54 matches vs Pakistan (Lord's, 2019)
Brett Lee (Australia) - 55 matches vs England (Melbourne, 2003)
Trent Boult (New Zealand) - 56 matches vs West Indies (Christchurch, 2017)
Mohammed Shami (India) - 56 matches vs New Zealand (Napier, 2019)
Jasprit Bumrah (India) - 57 matches vs Sri Lanka (Leeds, 2019)
Haris Rauf then followed in Shaheen's footsteps to reduce Bangladesh to 23/3 by getting rid of experienced Mushfiqur Rahim after skipper Shakib Al Hasan decided to bat first. While Bangladesh will be knocked out officially if they lose, Pakistan will hope to get a big win to stay in the hunt.
