Shaheen Afridi bowled a breathtaking opening over as he took four wickets in his first over for Nottinghamshire on Friday against Birmingham in T20 Blast. In doing so, he became the first bowler claim four wickets in the opening over of a T20 innings. 

While defending a total of 169 runs, Afridi made a sloppy start to the over by giving five runs through a wide delivery.

However, he returned with a bang on the next ball, as he trapped Alex Davies lbw by an inswinging Yorker.

Shaheen was on a hat-trick as he also clean bowled Chris Benjamin on the next ball.

The left-arm pacer couldn’t complete his hat-trick but struck on the fifth bowl of the over, as he removed Dan Mousley, courtesy of a stunning catch by Olly Stone at short cover.

Shaheen ended the over with another excellent delivery as he plucked out the off stump of Ed Barnard, leaving Birmingham reeling at 7-4 after the first over of their innings.

Despite Shaheen's heroics, Birmingham went onto chase the target, courtesy of a brilliant 65-run knock by Rob Yates. Afridi finished with figures of 4/29 after four overs.

While talking about his first over, Shaheen said, "I had never before taken four wickets in my first over. Though winning the game would have been much better, it still felt amazing. We, unfortunately, came up short."

"The way the crowd supported me was truly heartwarming. While running in to bowl, it felt as if I was playing in Pakistan. I have formed strong bonds with my teammates here; it feels like a family," he added.

Earlier, in the first innings, Hasan Ali also bowled a remarkable four-over spell for Birmingham, in which he took three crucial wickets, while conceding only 25 runs.

Hasan’s last over was particularly impressive, taking two wickets and enforcing a run-out on last three balls of the innings, restricting Nottinghamshire to a total 0f 168.