Controversy mars Australia win

Shahid Afridi
12 April 2012

Australia completed a 5-0 series whitewash after a two-wicket defeat of Pakistan at the WACA in a match marred by allegations of ball tampering.

Australia reached a target of 213 with three balls to spare, the winning runs coming up after Ryan Harris spooned a catch to mid-off only for the square leg umpire to rule a no-ball as the delivery passed waist high.

But the match may be overshadowed by an investigation into an alleged ball tampering incident involving stand-in Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi and a nasty field invasion by a spectator.

In bizarre scenes, Afridi was caught on camera biting into the ball before tossing it back to the bowler late in the Australia innings.

The third umpire reported the incident to the on-field officials who immediately ordered the ball be replaced with five overs to go and Australia needing a further 35 for victory.

Afridi faces a fine and/or suspension if found guilty of ball tampering.

Adding to a dramatic finish, a fan jumped the fence with four overs remaining and crash-tackled Pakistani opener Khalid Latif before being dragged away by security.

Australia bowled Pakistan out for a modest 212, with their three frontline bowlers sharing the honours - Harris (three for 32), Johnson (two for 42) and man-of-the-match Clint McKay (four for 35) taking nine of the 10 wickets to fall.

Only a patient 67 from Umar Akmal (102 balls) and a fighting Alam (63 from 70 balls) half-century ensured Pakistan's bowlers had a total to defend.

But, determined to end a disastrous tour on a high note, Pakistan's bowlers stuck to their task well and Australia were indebted to skipper Ricky Ponting (55) and Mike Hussey (40) as they scrambled to their target.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in