Lahore Qalandars were were docked five runs for altering the condition of the cricket ball during their PSL 2026 match against Karachi Kings.
Five-run penalty swings game Karachi’s way
In trying conditions, LQ struggled to 128-9 in their allotted 20 overs after Shaheen Shah Afridi won the toss and opted to bat against KK. The only impetus came from Abdullah Shafique (33 in 24 balls), but the LQ batters generally struggled against Moeen Ali (4-0-31-2), Mir Hamza (3-0-14-2), and eventual Player of the Match Adam Zampa (4-1-11-2).
In response, Shaheen (4-0-18-4) did not make KK’s job any easier. He struck twice in his first two overs. Muhammad Waseem (38 in 37) kept KK in the hunt, but Shaheen returned to take him out as well and added Moeen to his tally.
As KK inched towards the target, Mustafizur Rahman came to bowl the 19th over. Khushdil Shah ran a tight single off the last ball of the over. Before Haris Rauf could begin the last over, however, the umpires – Faisal Afridi and Sharfuddoula Saikat – had a look at the ball and decided that LQ had altered the condition of the ball.
As per the Playing Conditions, they rewarded five penalty runs to LQ, who were also allowed to choose the replacement ball, leaving Shaheen far from impressed.
KK now needed only nine off the last over. Sikandar Raza immediately took a blinder at deep mid-wicket to remove Khushdil. However, after Rauf bowled a wide, Abbas Afridi finished things off with a four and a six.
“I don’t know about this,” responded Shaheen when asked about the incident at the post-match presentations. “We’ll discuss. Five runs penalty, but we can’t say anything. We will see.”
