LAHORE: Lahore Qalandars skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi expressed his unfamiliarity with the change of ball condition that cost the defending champions a five-run penalty in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11th match against Karachi Kings here at Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.
The incident took place before the final over of the Kings’ innings, when the on-field umpires examined the ball and deemed its position changed, resulting in a five-run penalty for the fielding side.
A penalty reduced the score to 9 instead of 14 for Kings, and consecutive boundaries from Abbas Afridi in the second and third balls guided the 2020 champions to a stunning four-wicket win.
Although Shaheen expressed his disappointment at the referees’ decision when they slapped the home side with a penalty, he said he was unaware of the allegation, insisting they should discuss it.
“I don’t know about it (ball-tampering), we will discuss. Five-run penalty… But we can’t say anything. We will see,” Shaheen said in the post-match briefing.
Reflecting on his team’s overall performance, Shaheen argued that their batting unit did a good job, citing the Kings’ struggle in chasing the 129-run target.
“It was a good game. We wanted to fight till the last ball and the team tried. It was the same in both the batting. I feel our batting was good, otherwise KK would have chased it down in 15 overs,” asserted the left-arm pacer.
Notably, the Kings’ sensational four-wicket win in the recently concluded match extended their head-to-head dominance over the Calenders to 15-8.
When asked if the Qalandars had any mental blocks against their traditional rivals Kings, Shaheen declined, instead expressing the team’s spirit to fight till the final ball.
“There was no mental block. My team fought till the last ball and that’s what I want from my team,” concluded Shaheen.