Shahid Afridi breaks the social feeds again, this time for his golden duck

Cricket is the greatest leveler, they say. Well, at the moment, there is one man who seems to be relating to this adage the most. Former Pakistan cricketer, Shahid Afridi, who emerged as the hero for the Hampshire side in the quarterfinals, ended up bagging a golden duck in the all important semi-finals. Needless to say, the law of averages seems to have caught up with him.

But Alas! at perhaps the worst of the occasions. Afridi was trending on the social media when he hammered his first ever T20 ton in the quarterfinals of the NatWest T20 Blast this season. His superlative ton, that had come in just 43 deliveries, had his fans go berserk on the social feeds. Now, the fans expected him to fire again on the day of the semifinals against Nottinghamshire.

But Shahid Afridi ended up getting dismissed on the very first ball of the match. The situations did not change – Afridi remained trending on the social feeds. But this time around, the emotions had reverted back. Many fans trolled him for having got out cheaply in the game. Talking about the second semi-final of the NatWest T20 Blast, it was Hampshire against Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston.

Nottighamshire scored 169 in their stipulated 20 overs with opener Riki Wessels top scoring with 48. Afridi was the most economical bowler for Hampshire with figures of 1/22 in his quota of 4 overs. In walked the former Pakistani skipper to open the innings with Calvin Dickinson. Samit Patel took the new ball for the Notts.

On the very first delivery of the run chase, Patel pitched it short and the ball was there to be hit. Afridi read it early and pulled it hard but ended up finding the only fielder in the deep on the leg side. Alex Hales, the boundary rider, pocketed the ball with ease to send Shahid Afridi packing for a golden duck. In the end, Hampshire fell short by 23 runs in their run chase.

Here is how the social media reacted to his golden duck: