Afridi ban follows ball bite in bizarre Aussie win

BY WILL SWANTON AND JUSTIN CHADWICK- SMH AND AAP

A brain-implosion from Pakistan stand-in captain Shahid Afridi has cost him a two-match Twenty20 international ban from the International Cricket Council for ball tampering.

The ICC says Afridi was guilty of "changing the condition of the ball" in yesterday's two-wicket loss to Australia in Perth.

The ban means the hard-hitting all-rounder will be unavailable for the tourists in Friday's Twenty20 fixture against Australia at the MCG.

Afridi, named captain for the day after Mohammad Yousuf withdrew due to a knee injury, was caught by television cameras biting the ball and running his teeth down the seam. At the time, Australia was precariously placed at 7-178 and needing 35 more runs for victory off 30 balls to chase down Pakistan's 212.

Umpires changed the ball straight away and Afridi denied any wrongdoing, claiming he was smelling it.

''If [the match referee] wants to talk about it, I'll talk about it,'' Afridi said after the match. ''But I did nothing wrong. I tried to smell it.''

Australian captain Ricky Ponting added: ''We've seen a few replays of it - I don't know what to say. I've never seen that before. I'm sure that will be dealt with.''

The game was further marred when a ground invader tackled Pakistan fieldsman Khalid Latif to the ground in the 47th over.

Latif was unhurt in the incident and laughed it off but it cast a deep shadow over the match.

It was the second time in the match a spectator invaded the field of play and no less than 16 security guards lined the boundary after Latif was brought to the ground.

Ijaz Butt, the president of the Pakistan Cricket Board, told the Sydney Morning Herald after the match that further action would be taken once he had received a report from team management.

''I have never seen anything like that before,'' Butt said.

''I am not sure why a person would want to hit Khalid. I am certain the local authorities will be looking at the incident, and we will consider what course to take once we have received a report.''

Asked whether he intended to take the matter up with the ICC, Butt was blunt: ''Yes,'' he said.

The incident was the second pitch invasion of the night. Security staff halted the first attempt.

''I thought it was a disgrace,'' said Clint McKay, the Australian fast bowler. ''To touch one of their players is just not on. You can't have that.

''It's the worst thing that can happen on a cricket ground and is something you don't expect to see. For it to happen twice in one night is pretty unusual.''

Mike Hussey (40 not out off 46 balls), Nathan Hauritz (18 off 20 balls) and Ryan Harris (two not out) ensured Australia got over the line with four balls and two wickets to spare after Ricky Ponting's 55 set up the innings.

But it was Afridi's bizarre biting incident that had everyone talking.

Afridi, who claimed 2-31 from his 10 overs, has previously been banned for one Test and two one-dayers in 2005 for scraping his boots on the pitch in a test against England.

Set a modest 213 for victory, Australia were cruising at 3-122 in the 32nd over before a collapse of 3-28, which included the wicket of Ponting and Adam Voges (24), catapulted Pakistan back into the contest.

But Hussey, Mitchell Johnson (13) and Hauritz did enough to hold off Pakistan's charge.

Australia needed just one run off the last four balls and secured the win when Harris was caught off a no-ball from Rao Iftikhar.

Hussey's latest knock took his series aggregate to 220 runs at an average of 73.

Pakistan collapsed to 3-16 in the ninth order after winning the toss and electing to bat before face-saving half-centuries from Umar Akmal (67 off 102 balls) and Fawad Alam (63 off 70) helped lift the visitors to somewhat of a respectable total, with Alam last man out in the 50th over.

In-form speedster Harris, buoyed by consecutive man-of-the-match awards, again haunted Pakistan with figures of 3-44 while Clint McKay (4-35) was also clinical.

Recalled speedster Johnson, playing his first game of the series, bowled with great pace and gusto to claim 2-42, striking tail-ender Iftikhar in the head with a vicious bouncer in the process.

Johnson, who regularly bowled in excess of 150km/h, added a run-out to his name in an impressive return to action.

Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke and paceman Peter Siddle were ruled out of the match due to back complaints, with Johnson and Voges called in.