Mumbai: The ICC Cricket World Cup is no alien to surprises and shocks. And teams such as Afghanistan, UAE, Ireland that were initially referred to as ‘minnows’ are proving to be a huge quandary for the bigger giants in the tournament.
That apart, Afghanistan’s cricketers, who are making their first appearance on cricket’s biggest stage showed why they belong to the World Cup. The Mohammad Nabi-led were up against Sri Lanka in their next game in Dunedin on Sunday. The Islanders were in trouble when Afghanistan took early wickets but the more established team prevailed courtesy Mahela Jayawardene’s ton.
Read: Mahela Jayawardene’s ton help Islanders pull off slippery 4-wicket win
But what caught our attention was Mahela’s bat. Afghanistan’s ace pace bowler Shapoor Zadran might have shattered the woodwork many times but little did he know that the 136kph back-of-a-length ball that he delivered would be met with Jayawardene just holding the handle of the bat. Zadran’s delivery busted the bat with three fourths of it flying to the middle of the pitch. Watch this video to know more.
This is not the first time however, that such a ‘bat breaking’ moment took place on the pitch. Earlier during the Ashes 2013-14, Australian pace bowler Ryan Harris faced a rather bizarre moment when his delivery saw Michael Carberry defending on the front foot only to see the blade brake open in two halves.
And to add to the insanity, Harris actually wanted to keep the broken bat and frame it but his dream was short-lived as the Bradman Museum at Bowral (Australia) took the souvenir for keep’s sake.
