SHARJAH — The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Monday fined left-arm fast bowler Wahab Riaz and opening batsman Ahmed Shehzad with 40 percent and 30 percent of their match fees respectively for ‘inappropriate physical contact’.
Riaz was representing Peshawar Zalmi and Shehzad was playing for Quetta Gladiators during the 17th Pakistan Super League (PSL) match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium Sunday.
Gladiators, batting first, sent Shehzad and Asad Shafiq as openers. Shehzad was looking in a good form and all set for a big innings until Wahab got rid of his middle stump after getting smashed for a mighty six in the fifth over.
The wicket followed an exchange of harsh words between the bowler and the batsman.
TV replays showed Wahab provoking Shehzad by passing on ‘inappropriate’ comments, to which the batsman reacted by colliding into the bowler, crossing a fine line between intense competition and unacceptable behavior.
Match referee Roshan Mahnama issued a warning and fined both the players for violating clause 2.2.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct, which relates to “inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play”.
Afridi lifts Peshawar
Earlier, Shahid Afridi picked up career-best T20 figures of 5 for 7, setting up a comprehensive eight-wicket win for Peshawar Zalmi against Quetta Gladiators in Sharjah Sunday.
Afridi, who will be retiring from international cricket following the World T20 in India next month, struck off just his second ball, accounting for Akbar-ur-Rehman in the sixth over.
Quetta, which was at a promising 40 for 0 at one stage, soon began to slide, as Afridi struck at regular intervals to carve through the team's middle and lower order. He trapped Mohammad Nawaz lbw and bowled the captain Sarfraz Ahmed in the 10th over, before proceeding to remove both Mohammad Nabi and Elton Chigumbura in the 12th.
When the dust cleared, Afridi was left boasting figures of 4-1-7-5, and Quetta was tottering at 66 for 9, staring at the prospect of being bowled out inside 13 overs. However, Grant Elliott, on the back of two consecutive Man-of-the-Match performances, led a late rally, slamming a 29-ball 40 and adding a world record 63 for the final wicket with Zulfiqar Babar. Their efforts lifted the team to 129.
Peshawar, though, had no trouble chasing down the total. Its openers Mohammad Hafeez and Dawid Malan began brightly, putting up 60 runs off just 50 balls.
Hafeez eventually fell for 36, but Malan carried on, adding a further 54 with Kamran Akmal. Malan went on to stroke his 12th half-century in T20 cricket, his 52-ball 60 taking the team home with eight balls to spare. — Agencies
