"You can literally see Haris Rauf running his thumb nail over the ball"- USA's Rusty Theron accuses Pakistan of ball tampering
USA fast bowler Rusty Theron sent out a tweet about Haris Rauf to the ICC during the T20 World Cup 2024 match between the United States and Pakistan. The right-arm pacer felt that Pakistan's Haris Rauf tried to tamper the ball with his thumb's nail.
The American team battled against Pakistan in a Group A match of the T20 World Cup earlier today (June 6) in Dallas. Pakistan set a 160-run target for the home side, and in response, Monank Patel's half-century placed them in a comfortable position.
Pakistan bounced back in the second half of the USA's innings. However, Rusty Theron opined that the Men in Green may have tampered with the ball to get an advantage in that situation. Here's what Theron 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 thumb nail over the ball at the top of his mark. @usacricket #PakvsUSA."
Pakistan made a fine comeback in the slog overs to ensure that the USA did not touch the 160-run mark. The USA finished with 159/3 in 20 overs to reach the Super Over.
Haris Rauf could not win it for Pakistan in the 20th over of the innings
The match went down to the final over, with the USA needing 15 runs to win the game. A well-set Aaron Jones was in the middle with Nitish Kumar, who was struggling to time the ball well.
Rauf had the responsibility to bowl the final over. He started well and conceded just three off the first three balls. Jones then smacked him for a six over the leg-side, followed by a single. Kumar somehow managed to clear the mid-off fielder inside the circle for a four as the match ended in a tie.