Ex-Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi smacked a 42-ball-100 for his side Hampshire against Derbyshire in Natwest T20 Blast.

Surprisingly, this was Afridi’s maiden 3-figure score in T20 cricket from as many as 256 matches. The Pakistani superstar tonked seven 6s and ten 4s during the course of his freakish assault.

He came out to open the innings and had a partnership of 43 with wicket-keeper Calvin Dickinson, before knitting together a 97-run partnership with skipper James Vince.

“I asked the captain and coach yesterday if I could bat higher up the order because 7 or 8 is not my position,” Boom Boom Afridi said after his dazzling 101 helped Hampshire on their route to a 7th finals day in 8 seasons. Last time he opened in a T20 was back in 2011 against Somerset in the semifinals. As a matter of fact, that innings yielded his next highest T20 score of 80.

Hampshire amassed a humongous 249/8 in 20 overs which is the highest T20 score in Derbyshire. Skipper Vince also contributed with a handy 36-ball-55 during their innings.

In reply, Derbyshire came swinging all the way only to find themselves at 58-7 after which the last wicket partnership

carried them to 148.

Hampshire won the match by 101 runs in the process, assuring themselves a berth in the semi-finals of the Natwest T20 Blast 2017.