Sam Curran definitely seemed to be very upset and frustrated with his bowling in his first spell against Afghanistan when the two teams met for their World Cup 2023 encounter on Sunday in Delhi. The left-arm pacer then vented some of that frustration and anger onto the innocent cameraman.
In his second over against Afghanistan, Sam Curran leaked 20 runs as Rahmanullah Gurbaz tore into him with two fours and a six. This over also included a no-ball from the left-arm seamer. He was straightaway removed from the attack by skipper Jos Buttler.
Then, fielding at the boundary line, a cameraman got near him from behind. Sam Curran showed his anger to the cameraman, by pushing forcefully at the camera and suggesting he not come inside the boundary, although it seems that the cameraman was outside the boundary line. But maybe Curran was upset with him putting his camera near him soon after he’d been spanked for boundaries.
Meanwhile, it was a highly entertaining innings from Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz. He smashed 80 runs in 57 balls, which helped Afghanistan record their highest-ever first powerplay total in World Cup.
Highest powerplay totals for Afghanistan in WC:
79/0 vs England, 2023*
61/0 vs New Zealand, 2019
50/1 vs Bangladesh, 2023
48/0 vs Bangladesh, 2019
48/1 vs India, 2023
Many fans wondered whether Afghanistan would be able to capitalize on their start and cause a big upset here. However, it was not to be as England bounced back in the next 20 overs, pulling things back with the ball and were aided by the run-out of Gurbaz. At the time of writing, England are 166/4 in 29 overs.
Teams:
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
England (Playing XI): Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(w/c), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley
Watch: Sam Curran pushed at the camera in anger after getting smashed by Gurbaz
#CWC2023 Sam Curran gets physical with the cameraman. pic.twitter.com/ilSSUrRO2I
— Alan Owen (@alanbowen) October 15, 2023
