'Disaster': Afghanistan captain slammed over bizarre final over decision
A bizarre decision from Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib arguably cost his side the match against Pakistan and inadvertently sparked violent clashes in the crowd.
Pakistan hung on to defeat Afghanistan by three wickets with just two balls to spare, but it was Gulbadin’s decision the bowl the final over himself that left many scratching their heads.
Gulbadin, an opening batsman, went for a total of 74 runs in his 9.4 overs, including the boundary that won the game for Pakistan.
Needless to say, Afghanistan fans were as irritated as Pakistan fans were delighted at the result.
Another very good performance by #Afghanistan 👏👏and heartbreaking result..#GulbadinNaib Good job in helping #Pakistan win d match..
— Naganathan (@Nn84Naganatha) June 29, 2019
Remove #GulbadinNaib from the team or at least from captaincy @ACBofficials
— Nasrat Omed (@NasratOmed) June 29, 2019
Just give it to Gulbadin naib #PAKvAFG
Well played @simadwasim @WahabViki @Mujeeb_R88 @MohammadNabi007 pic.twitter.com/UAYEcYFxpb— Amir Sk🇮🇳 (@aamirsk007) June 29, 2019
Afghanistan team has been rocked all tournament by controversial decision before the tournament of replacing Asghar Afghan with Gulbadin as Captain. Coach Phil Simmons has lambhasted thr move. Today's decision by Gulbadin to bowl two overs at the end proved to be the disaster!
— Aman Sharma (@AmanKayamHai_ET) June 29, 2019
Gulbadin is the culprit from Afghanistan side - not sure why he didn’t bowl Shinwari any more overs!?
— Kalim Khan (@Kallerz37) June 29, 2019
Absolutely. Gulbadin overestimates his very very limited abilities.
— Raunak Kapoor (@RaunakRK) June 29, 2019
Gulbadin’s final over was a disaster from the first ball.
His first delivery strayed wide and was fortunate to be held to a single on the boundary - his next delivery wasn’t much better.
It was clear the Afghanistan team was missing injured bowler Hamid Hassan, as the winning runs were clattered to the boundary by Pakistan’s Imad Wasim.
“We fought really well but again we missed the opportunity to win the match. Credit goes to Pakistan, Imad played really well,” Gulbadin said after the match.
We missed Hamid Hassan, which is why I had to bowl 10 overs. We are still learning a lot in this format. Thank you to the tremendous crowd here.”
Steve Smith's 'ridiculous' feat stuns fans
A moment of sheer brilliance from Steve Smith has reminded the cricket world just how good the former Australian captain is.
Smith dived at full stretch to dismiss New Zealand’s Tom Latham, a stunning feat of athleticism off the bowling of Mitchell Starc.
The catch capped an all-but perfect day in the field for Smith, who also took his first ODI wicket since 2014 in Australia’s incredible 86-run victory over the Kiwis.
Australia needed to seize every opportunity they had in the field, after a disastrous start in the first innings left them in all sorts at 5/92.
Smith’s catch rivalled an earlier, sensational effort from New Zealand’s Martin Guptill.
Guptill’s backwards, diving catch off a fiercely smacked Smith hook shot was equally impressive.
