Amidst the relentless 'Kohli, Kohli' chants from the crowd at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Afghanistan's star pacer Naveen ul Haq delivered a stunning blow to England's chase in their ODI World Cup match on October 15, Sunday. Naveen snared the prized wicket of England's Jos Buttler, clean-bowling him with a jaffa to leave England in all sorts of bother.
Buttler's dismissal left England struggling at 91/4 while pursuing a challenging target of 285 runs, raising hopes of a thrilling upset in the tournament.
England's skipper Buttler was focused on building his innings, when he was innings and was awaiting an opportunity for a release shot. Naveen, the right-arm seamer, enticed him by delivering the ball from a wide angle, angling it in with pace. Buttler attempted a flick, leaving a considerable gap between his bat and pad, which Naveen cleverly figured out. With the additional skid available on the Kotla pitch, the ball slipped through this gap and crashed into the stumps.
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Naveen ul Haq had been persistently heckled with chants of 'Kohli' during all of Afghanistan's matches in the tournament. This animosity stemmed from a previous altercation between Naveen and Virat Kohli during IPL 2023. Although they buried the hatchet with a warm hug when India faced Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley stadium in New Delhi, which also happens to be Kohli's home ground.
Meanwhile just a couple of overs after Buttler's dismissal, Rashid removed Liam Livingstone, a formidable right-handed batsman, for a mere 10 runs off 14 balls. This setback left England at 117/5, further complicating England's chase.
If Afghanistan manage to win against England, this will be their first win against the defending champions in the ODIs.
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