Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe: Umpires penalize Afghanistan for bizarre ploy during second Test

The ongoing second Test between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe witnessed a bizarre incident on day three (Friday) when the former were penalised one run after a bizarre incident. The incident took place in the third session of Day 3 when Afghanistan were trying to finish Zimbabwe’s innings. Zimbabwe were on 281 for 8 with middle-order batsman Sikandar Raza (79*) holding one end.

Giving Raza company was Blessing Muzarabani and he was yet to open his account. Raza was on strike and was looking to take the single in order to retain the strike for the next over. On the last ball of the over, Raza hit a yorker through the cover region. The ball stopped inches short of the boundary ropes as the Zimbabwe duo crossed their ends.

Afghanistan fielder Hashmatullah Shahidi, however, tried an unusual ploy to try and keep Raza off strike. He picked the ball and deliberately put one of his feet outside the boundary ropes. A boundary would have meant Muzarabani taking the strike on the first ball of the next over. The on-field umpires Ahmed Shah Pakteen and Aleem Dar, however, had other ideas.

They had a brief chat and then decided to penalize Afghanistan one run, citing rule 19.8 of The Laws of Cricket. The decision eventually saw Raza returning to the strike on the very next ball. The rule states, ‘If the boundary results from an overthrow or from the willful act of a fielder, the runs scored shall be any runs for penalties awarded to either side and the allowance for the boundary and the runs completed by the batsmen, together with the run in progress if they had already crossed at the instant of the throw or act.’

Afghanistan on top:

Talking about the game, Afghanistan have taken a firm grip on the game after losing the first Test. Batting first, Afghanistan posted a mammoth total of 545 for 4 before declaring their innings. Hashmatullah Shahidi starred with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 200 while captain Asghar Afghan also scored 164.

In reply, Afghanistan only managed 287 and were asked to follow-on. The African country is off to a poor start in the second innings too and were reeling at 50 for 2 at the time of compiling this report. Tarisai Musakanda and Sean Williams were at the crease as Zimbabwe look to avoid an defeat to secure their first Test series win since 2004.