An intriguing incident in the second Afghanistan-Zimbabwe Test in Abu Dhabi saw the hosts penalised by the umpires after falling foul of Law 19.8 in an attempt to keep tailender Blessing Muzarabani on strike.
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The incident occurred on the last ball of the 91st over, with Sikander Raza on strike on 79 not out and Zimbabwe eight wickets down. Afghanistan, having racked up a mammoth 545-4 in the first innings, were looking to take the last two wickets quickly in order to hasten the game towards a result.
In an attempt to keep Raza off-strike, Sayed Shirzad bowled a wide yorker, but the Zimbabwean managed to squeeze the ball out behind point. The shot seemed set to go for a boundary, only to stop just short of the rope, allowing Raza to complete the single and retain strike.
Shahidullah, in an apparently deliberate attempt to concede a boundary and thus keep Raza off strike, stepped across the rope just before fielding the ball. However, he had failed to take into account Law 19.8, which concerns “Overthrow or wilful act of fielder”.
“If the boundary results from an overthrow or from the wilful act of a fielder, the runs scored shall be any runs for penalties awarded to either side and the allowance for the boundary 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,” it states.
It also states that Law 18.12.2, which deals with the “batsman returning to wicket he/she has left” shall apply “as from the instant of the throw or act”, meaning Raza was allowed to retain the strike in any case, due to his having completed the single before Shahidi stepped across the rope in an attempt to concede four.
Zimbabwe were therefore awarded five runs, with Raza taking strike for the next over.
In the end, the moment hardly had much impact, with Zimbabwe’s innings coming to an end within three balls. Muzarabani was run out off the second ball of the 92nd over, attempting to get Raza back on strike, and the set batsman then holed out from the third ball of that same over.
Watch the controversial moment below:
Deliberate misfield from the Afghani player to make the newer batsmen take strike, didn't think this was allowed no? #Cricket #AFGvZIM pic.twitter.com/fzHlOofALu
— GiraffePig (@ClarkeTom20) March 12, 2021
