It was a bowling nightmare for Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi on Tuesday (Mar 18) after he was hit for four sixes in an over during the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand. The destruction was caused by New Zealand batter and former Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) player in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Tim Seifert. As a result of his batting havoc, New Zealand beat Pakistan by five wickets while Seifert has made headlines ahead of the new IPL season.

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Who is Tim Seifert?

Nicknamed “Bam Bam”—a nod to The Flintstones—due to his youthful appearance and powerful hitting, Tim Seifert is a dynamic top-order batter and wicketkeeper. Known for his 360-degree stroke play, he has an array of shots, including the reverse sweep and switch hit. His talent was on full display in December 2017 when he hammered a 40-ball century for Northern Districts in New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition, taking on an Auckland attack featuring Lockie Ferguson, Sam Curran, and Tarun Nethula.

Just two months later, Seifert made his T20I debut for New Zealand and quickly became their preferred wicketkeeper in the format. In 2019, he made headlines with a blistering 84 off 43 balls against India in Wellington, earning comparisons to his idol, Brendon McCullum. His association with McCullum deepened when he played under him at Trinbago Knight Riders in the CPL and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. Seifert particularly honed his batting and wicketkeeping skills against spin during his CPL stint with TKR.

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What happened in the Pakistan match?

During the second over of the New Zealand batting innings, Seifert smashed Afridi for four sixes in an over. This came after the opening over of the innings had been bowled as a maiden (no runs scored by the batter) by Afridi. It was a pattern of 6, 6, 0, 2, 6, 6 which put the visitors on the back foot in what was a rain-marred match.  

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His exploits saw New Zealand chase down the target of 136 runs in 13.1 overs as they took a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.