In a dramatic turn of events at the Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds, Afghanistan and Pakistan fans clashed against each other during the World Cup 2019 match between the two sides on Saturday.
A number of videos have surfaced on Twitter showing the violent clashes which are reported to have happened during the first half of the game. According to ESPNcricinfo, at least 2 people were also evicted from the stadium.
Those evicted reportedly continued the melee outside the stadium and a few journalists who were trying to film the scenes were also allegedly harmed. There have also been reports of fans entering the stadium illegally and occupying seats.
What the hell is going on outside #leads ? Fight between Afghani and Pakistani Fans..#PAKvAFG #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/eqfIFS2z7u
— Sultan Shah (@SultanShah1) June 29, 2019
Afghan fans clash with security officials and Pakistani Fans.
Also harass Pakistani media personnel.@cricketworldcup @TheRealPCB @ACBofficials pic.twitter.com/ayUvFWqBy0— Anas Saeed (@anussaeed1) June 29, 2019
In these videos, Afghanistan and Pakistan fans are hitting each other. The cause of the fight could not be ascertained through the video. Few fans are even seen throwing plastic water bottles to the rival fans.
This is the first such incident that has surely bought embarrassment to the tournament. Both Afghanistan teams and Pakistan are playing some good cricket but these particular set of fans have bought disrepute to the gentlemen’s game.
Talking about the match, after opting to bat, Afghanistan could manage to score 227/9 in their 50 overs. Asghar Afghan (42) and Najibullah Zadran (42) were the top scorers for the Afghan side while Shaheen Afridi took 4 wickets for Pakistan.