Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi on Sunday said he was not aware of the change in ball condition that led to a five-run penalty during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 clash against Karachi Kings at the Gaddafi Stadium today.
The incident occurred before the end of the Kings’ innings, when the on-field umpires analyzed the ball and deemed its condition altered, resulting in a five-run penalty to the fielding side.
The penalty reduced the equation to just nine required in the final over instead of 14 for the Kings, and Abbas Afridi’s consecutive boundaries in the second and third deliveries took the 2020 champions to a thrilling four-wicket victory.
Although Shaheen expressed his disappointment at the referees’ decision when they awarded the home team a penalty, he claimed to be unaware of the allegation and insisted that they would discuss the matter.
“I don’t know about this [ball tampering]and we will discuss it. Penalty of five runs…but we can’t say anything. We’ll see,” Shaheen said at the post-match presentation.
Reflecting on his team’s overall performance, Shaheen argued that his batting unit did a decent job, citing the Kings’ struggle to chase the modest target of 129 runs.
“It was a good game. We wanted to fight till the last ball and the team tried. The batting of both teams was equal. I feel our batting was good, otherwise KK would have chased this in 15 overs,” the left-arm pacer stressed.
Notably, the Kings’ sensational four-wicket win in the recently concluded match extended their head-to-head dominance over the Qalandars to 15-8.
When asked if the Qalandars have any mental block against their traditional rivals, the Kings, Shaheen declined and instead highlighted the team’s spirit to fight until the final delivery.
“No mental block. My team has fought until the last ball, that’s what I need from my team,” Shaheen concluded.
