The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) plans to complain to the Asian Cricket Council that pacer Aizaz Cheema deliberately blocked host batsman Mahmudullah Riyad when he tried to come back for a run during the tense chase.
Chasing 237 for a win, Bangladesh fell short by two runs as it needed four from the final delivery. The incident in question happened during the 50th over.
“We have seen video footage of the incident repeatedly. It is clear that Cheema blocked Mahmudullah deliberately,” Enayet Hossain Siraj, the chairman of the BCB Cricket Operations Committee, told reporters here. “We will lodge a written appeal with the ACC very soon and will also give a copy to the ICC,” he added.
ICC rules state that if a player is found to have blocked his rival deliberately while completing a run, the batting side is awarded five penalty runs and if a run out has happened during the course of it, it is not given. The delivery itself is not to be counted but the run will be accounted for even if the batsmen have not crossed each other.
But whether the blocking was done deliberately is decided by the on-field officials and in the case reported by the BCB, umpire Steve Davis was seen having a word with both the players.
The ball yielded a single in that thrilling match. “It is clearly written in the playing conditions that it will be a dead ball if the batsman faces an obstacle while running by a bowler or fielder. The batting side will get a five-run penalty,” Siraj said. “In that case, we would have required only four runs off six balls. We have footage which clearly shows that the bowler in question created an obstacle to (Mahmudullah) Riyad.”
Bangladesh needed nine runs at the start of the 50th over. “Had Pakistan been penalised, Bangladesh's chase would have been made quite easy in the cliffhanger.
