Shaheen Shah Afridi, Saud Shakeel, and Kamran Ghulam have each been fined and handed a demerit point for separate Level 1 breaches of the ICC’s Code of Conduct following Pakistan’s tri-series match against South Africa in Karachi on Wednesday.
Afridi was fined 25% of his match fee for breaching Article 2.12, which pertains to “inappropriate physical contact” during a match. In the 28th over of South Africa’s innings, Afridi stepped into the path of batter Matthew Breetzke while attempting a run, resulting in physical contact and a heated exchange between the two. Prior to that, Afridi had reacted to Breetzke’s bat gesture with a verbal exchange, and the umpires had to intervene before the altercation escalated. Afridi moved towards Breetzke as he took off for a run, causing the batter to bump into him as he completed the run.
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Shakeel and Ghulam, the substitute fielder, were fined 10% of their match fees for breaching Article 2.5, which addresses “using language, actions, or gestures which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter.” This occurred after they celebrated too closely to Temba Bavuma following his run-out in the 29th over.
None of the three players had prior demerit points.
Pakistan won the match, successfully chasing down South Africa’s 352 for 5 with one over to spare. This marked Pakistan’s first successful chase of 350-plus runs in ODIs, and it secured their place in the tri-series final, where they will face New Zealand on Friday before moving on to the Champions Trophy.competition.
