The 24-year-old Afghanistan National Cricket Team right-arm pacer Naveen-ul-Haq uprooted the stumps of the New Zealand National Cricket Team captain Tom Latham in the 16th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai on Wednesday, October 18.
Tom Latham played a wonderful knock for the Blackcaps against Afghanistan. He joined forces with Glenn Phillips when the side looked in trouble and steadied the ship. The duo together added 144 runs in 153 balls and pushed the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side on the back foot.
Meanwhile, Naveen-ul-Haq brought some momentum back towards his side by dismissing both Phillips and Latham in the 48th over. On the first ball, the pacer sent back Phillips and then he removed Latham on the third delivery. Naveen bowled a short ball on off-stump and Latham shuffled in for the ramp. However, he completely missed his shot and saw his off-stump getting dismantled.
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Tom Latham got out after scoring 68 runs off 74 balls, with 3 fours and 2 sixes. Latham also equaled a massive record of Brendon McCullum as he now has 3 fifty-plus scores for New Zealand in ODI World Cups, which is the most by any Kiwi wicketkeeper-batter.
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Speaking during the toss, Tom Latham expressed his desire to post a huge total on the board. He was also hopeful of Kane Williamson recovering soon.
“Either way, wasn’t sure what to do. Looks like a good surface. Batting first will be good for us, and hopefully, we can put up a big total on the board. Will Young comes in for Williamson, fingers crossed for the remainder of the tournament. Adapting to every ground, every team, and every surface is important. Not a hundred percent sure, it might be slightly better than the last game.”
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Naveen-ul-Haq’s dismissal of Tom Latham was a crucial blow to New Zealand’s innings. Latham was playing well and was on course for a century. However, the Afghan pacer got him out at the right time and prevented him from scoring more runs.
