Piers Morgan made fun of Josh Hazelwood’s comments (Picture: Getty)
Piers Morgan led the jovial mocking of Australian cricketer Josh Hazlewood after his match-fixing comments came back to haunt him following his nation’s exit from the T20 World Cup.
Australia missed out on a place in the semi-finals after a shock defeat to Afghanistan in the Super Eight.
Afghanistan will now face South Africa for a place in Saturday’s final, while England will take on India as they seek to retain their title.
It marks a remarkable change of fortunes from earlier in the tournament where England’s chances of even reaching the Super Eight were placed in jeopardy following a sluggish start to the tournament.
A washed-out draw against Scotland followed by a heavy defeat against Australia left them on the brink of elimination and needing results to go their way for the rest of the group stages.
It was perhaps no surprise then when Aussie quick Hazlewood hinted his side might consider throwing their game against Scotland to ensure England were knocked out.
In the end, Australia did beat Scotland, while England thrashed Oman to progress past the preliminary stages, but England fans did not need a second invitation to remind Hazlewood of his comments in the aftermath of his nation’s shock exit.
Afghanistan shocked Australia to eliminate them from the tournament (Picture: Getty)
Broadcaster Morgan led the way, joking: ‘My thoughts with Josh Hazlewood and the Australian cricket team at this very difficult time. I guess karma had the last laugh…’
Edgbaston Stadium’s official X account said: ‘Thinking of Josh Hazlewood at this difficult time’, while England’s Barmy Army reposted a screenshot of Hazlewood’s press conference with the caption: ‘Images that precede unfortunate events.’
Another quipped: ‘Huge sigh of relief for Hazlewood now there’s no chance of Australia facing England in the knockouts’.
England face India in the tournament’s semi-final (Picture: Getty)
England all-rounder Liam Livingstone, meanwhile, praised his side’s dominant win against the USA and said they were rounding into form at the perfect time.
‘Sometimes it is better in tournament cricket to sneak up and nick it at the end. Hopefully, that is the way we will go,’ he said.
‘We are peaking at the right time, so hopefully we can win the next two games and retain the World Cup.
‘It’s been up and down until now but we are finding our rhythm and our best game of cricket came at the best time. We’re back in this tournament and that’s all that matters.’
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