[Watch] Shaheen Afridi takes 2 wickets off first two balls in The Hundred 2023 clash between Welsh Fire and Manchester Originals

Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi announced his arrival in The Hundred tournament in style by picking two wickets on his first deliveries for Welsh Fire in the match against Manchester Originals.

The Welsh Fire side batted first in the second match of the season on Wednesday after losing the toss. Rain delayed the start and forced the officials to trim the contest and make it 40 balls per side affair.

Welsh opener Luke Well (57 in 23 balls) hit a blistering half-century and powered his side to 94/3 in the first innings. Glenn Phillips (19) provided him with some support in the middle order, while others did not contribute much.

Joshua Little scalped two wickets for Manchester Originals in the bowling department.

Shaheen Afridi then stunned Manchester early in the chase by dismissing Philip Salt and Laurie Evans for golden ducks of the first two balls. He prized out both the batters via LBW with sumptuous inswinging yorkers.

You can watch Shaheen Afridi's sensational opening burst in the video below:

This is @iShaheenAfridi, everyone 🦅

#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/NGhPJZ9QqX

After Shaheen Afridi's opening burst, Jos Buttler rescues Manchester Originals with a cameo

After being reduced to 0/2, Manchester captain Jos Buttler (37) stitched a 63-run partnership with Max Holden (37) to resurrect the innings and keep his side in the hunt. However, the target eventually proved to be marginally out of reach as they could only reach 85/4 in 40 balls and lost the match by nine runs.

Luke Wells received the Player of the Match award for this brilliant half-century in the first innings. Reflecting on his knock after the match, Wells said:

"We wanted to have a right-left combination, thankfully it paid off. You don't have too much time to think about it in a rain-shortened game. It was good fun and enjoyed it in the middle while batting. I think I have played a variety of roles, opening, batting at 3,4, and also lower down the order. Trying to adapt, and will hope to do the job for Welsh Fire going forward."