DUBAI - Pakistan’s ace cricketer Shahid Afridi’s presence failed to make any impact as his team Fly Emirates XI lost both their matches in the Emirates Airline Twenty20 at the Sevens on Friday.
In the first match, Fly Emirates lost to Surrey Lions by eight runs. A solid knock of 41 by captain and opener Rory Hamilton Brown and Matthew Spriegel (40) ensured Surrey put a competitive 159 for six in the allotted twenty overs. Yasin Sikander was the pick of the Fly Emirates bowlers, taking three wickets in his three overs.
Afridi shone with the bat and top scored for Fly Emirates with a quickfire 35 off just 20 balls, but that was not sufficient to lead his team to victory.
UAE skipper Khurram Khan chipped in with 30 off 27 balls.In the second match, The Fly Emirates XI once again lost out by a narrow margin as they went down to Sussex.
Fly Emirates fell just short of the victory target of 111, losing by seven runs.
Sussex won the toss and elected to bat with opener Chris Nash notching up a total of 45 off 42 balls. Despite others failed to score, Sussex managed a score of 110 for 7 in 20 overs.
Pakistan allrounder Afridi finished with an impressive figures of 3 for 18 off his four overs.
Chasing Sussex’s total of 110, Fly Emirates lost wickets at regular intervals.
After their star batsman Afridi was run out, things went horribly wrong as they managed only 103 for eight in 20 overs.
In the third match, the Cape Cobras claimed a 46-run victory over Surrey.