"Ball of the tournament" - Paul Collingwood on Kuldeep Yadav's dismissal of Jos Buttler in IND vs ENG 2023 World Cup clash
JiFormer England batter Paul Collingwood was left in awe of Kuldeep Yadav's stunning delivery to dismiss Jos Buttler in the 2023 World Cup clash in Lucknow on Sunday, October 29. He also observed that India gave nothing away after picking up the first wicket and stayed relentless throughout.
The dismissal of Buttler came in the 16th over of the innings as Kuldeep tossed up a delivery outside off, which turned viciously to beat the right-hander on the backfoot and hit the top of the middle stump. It left the England captain dumbfounded and created a significant dent in their hopes of chasing 230.
Speaking to Star Sports, here's what Collingwood had to say about England's bowling performance:
"And I just thought the ball is once they got England's first wicket, they just didn't give them a sniff. After that, I thought about the accuracy, the skill level, that we get movement out of the pitch and then you thought maybe the spinners would come on and maybe they'll just stick it on, but no cold. Kuldeep comes up with probably the ball of the tournament to Jos Buttler."
Buttler's wicket reduced England to 52-5 in pursuit of 230. Kuldeep also picked up the wicket of Liam Livingstone later in the innings as the hosts won by 100 runs.
"There's obviously an amazing atmosphere there" - Paul Collingwood
The 47-year-old also talked about how the crowd got behind the home side and labelled them as their 12th man. He added:
"Yeah, look, it's it's kind of wow, isn't it? When you're watching it here almost in disbelief of what's going on and the Indian bowlers say, we're absolutely relentless, the lines and the length once they got that first wicket and you heard the crowd. And when you can hear the crowd on TV, there's obviously an amazing atmosphere there, and it's almost like having the 12th man."
With five defeats in six games, England are languishing at the bottom of the table. They are also at risk of missing out on the 2025 Champions Trophy.