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Allegations arose against Haris Rauf, suggesting that he had used his fingernail to scratch the recently changed ball, purportedly resulting in reverse swing during the 14th over.
On Thursday, during the T20 World Cup match at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, former South Africa cricketer and member of the USA cricket team Rusty Theron accused Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf of ball tampering. Theron’s surprising allegation emerged prior to Pakistan’s disappointing defeat against the co-hosts in a Group A match, ultimately decided via a Super Over.
Before the commencement of the 13th over, Pakistan opted to replace the ball while the home team’s score stood at 94 for one. The USA team sustained their momentum, as captain Monank Patel struck Shaheen Afridi for a boundary and a six in consecutive deliveries during the over. Subsequently, Haris Rauf dismissed Andries Gous with the first delivery of the following over. Notably, the delivery exhibited a subtle reverse swing, causing the good length ball to hit the top of off stump.
Shortly after the dismissal, Theron utilized the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to notify the ICC of the situation. He accused Haris of using his fingernail to scratch the newly replaced ball, which he believed resulted in the reverse swing observed during the gameplay.
He tweeted: “@ICC are we just going to pretend Pakistan aren’t scratching the hell out of this freshly changed ball? Reversing the ball that’s just been changed 2 overs ago? You can literally see Harris Rauf running his thumbnail over the ball at the top of his mark. @usacricket #PakvsUSA.”
As of now, the ICC has not issued any official statement regarding this incident.
Despite securing a crucial wicket and with Naseem Shah and Mohammad Amir executing yorkers effectively in the death overs, USA maintained their composure in the final over, scoring 14 runs to level the score. Haris Rauf faltered in his execution twice, conceding a six to Aaron Jones over cow corner and a boundary to Nitish Kumar off the final ball.
However, Pakistan’s woes continued in the Super Over, with Amir delivering a disappointing performance. Pakistan conceded 18 runs, including seven from extras, comprising three wides and some sloppy fielding. Saurabh Netravalkar successfully defended the total, dismissing Iftikhar Ahmed, as USA scripted their most significant international victory in history.
