India’s in-form left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav made everyone’s jaw drop with a sensational delivery that may go down as the ball of the ongoing World Cup 2023. Kuldeep’s massive turner bamboozled Jos Buttler as he went on the back foot but could not get bat on it and ended up getting bowled.
After Indian seamers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took two wickets each, a partnership was building between Buttler and Moeen Ali. Kuldeep in his second over broke the partnership before it could pose a problem. He bowled a flatter delivery outside off. Buttler had to go back deep into the crease to get bat on it but it turned sharply to go through the gap and hit the top of the middle stump.
This was not the first time Kuldeep had bowled a jaw-dropping delivery in World Cups. In the previous edition, he bowled a similar delivery to Pakistan captain Babar Azam to thread his defense and hit the stumps. However, the one at Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow spun more because of the pitch conditions.
Buttler departed after scoring 10 runs from 23 balls. England lost half their side for 52 in the run chase of 230.
Buttler has been in poor form this World Cup. The wicketkeeper-batter has scored 107 runs from six innings at an average of 17.83.
Later, Kuldeep would have got the wicket of Liam Livingstone as well. Livingstone went for the pull shot but missed the ball completely. The spinner appealed but the umpire turned it down. Kuldeep did not opt for DRS because of the height. However, the hawkeye showed that the ball would have gone on to hit the stumps and the batter would not have escaped on the account of the umpire’s call.
Earlier, Buttler won the toss and opted to field first. India suffered a batting collapse. Despite Rohit Sharma’s 87 and Suryakumar Yadav’s 49, India managed to post 229/9 on the board.
Meanwhile, bottom-placed England face another challenge in the World Cup. If they fail to finish in the top eight, they will not qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
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