In Thursday’s T20 Vitality Blast match between the Sussex Sharks and Essex, Shadab Khan put on a strong bowling performance. Shadab was instrumental in the success of the Essex batting lineup by repeatedly breaking through while Feroze Khushi provided security at one end. When Shadab eliminated Matt Critchley for only 9 runs, he made his first significant contribution.
Tom Alsop’s catch of Critchley provided Sussex with a much-needed breakthrough. On the very next ball, Shadab struck again, displaying his talent and accuracy, dismissing Paul Walter for a duck. The crowd was on the edge of their seats as a result of Shadab’s outstanding performance, which placed Essex on the back foot and gave him a hat-trick.
Shadab was unable to complete his hat-trick and let up a few boundaries in his third over, but he didn’t let it dissuade him. In his fourth over, he made a great recovery and dismissed Tom Westley for just two runs.
Shadab contributed significantly to limiting Essex to a modest score of 163/7 in their allowed 20 overs by finishing with statistics of 3/28 in his allotted 4 overs. Shadab’s fortunes dropped when he went to bat despite his outstanding performance with the ball.
Sadly, he was caught out by Simon Harmer’s bowling on his very first delivery of the game after failing to perform with the bat. Throughout their pursuit, Sussex kept dropping wickets at regular intervals, eventually being bowled out for 138 and dropping the match by 25 runs.
