Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi has a penchant for taking wickets in the first over

Ahead of the match against India, Pakistan seamer Shaheen Afridi said that like his compatriot Mohammad Amir did a few years ago, he wanted to take the wickets of India's top three batsmen.

He fulfilled that wish in stunning fashion as the Indian batting lineup crumbled under Afridi's fiery pace, reminding everyone of Amir's exploits at the Asia Cup in 2016.

Afridi loves the new ball so much that this was the 21st time he took a wicket in the first over of the 61 T20 matches he has played since his debut in February 2018, according to ESPNCricinfo.

At the start of the Super 12 match against India last night, in the fourth ball of the India innings, Afridi charged in as Rohit Sharma prepared to face his first ball of the game. An inswinging yorker catches Sharma by surprise and smacks his back leg right in front of the middle stump.

It was billed to be a match-up to watch as Sharma's weakness is left-arm seam bowling. But the contest lasted all of one ball as Afridi struck in the first over again.

Though the left-arm pace bowler is a weakness for many a right-hander, Afridi's bullets are found to be fatal also to the southpaws. Of the 21 first-over batsmen he has felled, eight of them were lefties. And most of them, left or right, are either bowled or caught leg before.

In effect, he takes the first wicket in the first over in one in three T20 matches he plays.

“He put our batsmen under pressure immediately with the new ball, and he ran in with intensity and showed that he's bowling in consistent areas, so as batsmen you are forced to be a bit watchful,” said Kohli after the game.

Afridi finished with figures of three for 31, which restricted India to 151, a target that the Pakistan opening batsmen chased down with ease.