Afghanistan Penalized For Knowingly Conceding A Boundary To Keep Tail-ender On Strike In The Second Test Against Zimbabwe

The Afghanistan cricket team landed into a bit of trouble during their ongoing Test match against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi. Afghanistan, who lost the first Test comprehensively, have done exceptionally well to be in the driver’s seat in the ongoing match. But the umpires penalized the Asian team for deliberately giving away a boundary to keep a tailender on strike.

The incident occurred in the 91st over of Zimbabwe’s first innings when left-arm medium bowler Sayed Shirzad did not let all-rounder Sikander Raza score any run off the first five balls. The final delivery turned out to be a yorker that Raza managed to help himself towards the vacant cover region.

The fielder, who chased the ball intentionally, conceded a boundary knowingly to keep Blessing Muzarabani on strike for the next over. The umpires had a chat about the same and decided to award five runs to Zimbabwe. Furthermore, they also allowed Sikander Raza to retain the strike for the next over.

Rashid Khan puts Afghanistan in sight of a massive win:

After Afghanistan’s batting failures in the first Test, they put on a far better show in the second Test as Hashmatullah Shahidi hit a double-hundred. Captain Asghar Afghan hit a hundred, followed by half-centuries from Nasir Jamal and Ibrahim Zadran, allowed them to declare at 545/4. Rashid Khan’s four wickets helped Afghanistan dismiss Zimbabwe for 287 in the first innings.

The leggie took another five in the second innings to reduce Zimbabwe to seven, needing still a few runs to overhaul the opposition’s first innings total. Though Donald Tripiano and Sean Williams are offering a monumental resistance currently, it likely looks like the Afghans will accomplish a victory.

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