England vs Pakistan Liam Plunkett possibly caught changing the condition of the ball on camera

The second ODI between England and Pakistan saw a precursor to what might come in the ICC World Cup 2019 as both the teams piled on heaps of runs. England won the match by just 12 runs, as Fakhar Zaman’s 138 and fifties from Babar Azam and Asif Ali and then an unbeaten 41 from skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed almost got Pakistan home. For England, David Willey picked 2/57 in his 10 overs and Liam Plunkett got 2/64 in his 9 overs. During England’s bowling innings, there was a moment when it appeared as if Plunkett might have been trying to alter the state of the ball.

Earlier, England batted first and thanks to 87 from Jason Roy and 51 from Bairstow, they added 115 runs for the first wicket. Though Joe Root slowed the proceedings in middle a bit, it got right back up as Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan were batting together. Jos Buttler carried on his IPL form slammed 110* in 55 balls and Morgan hit 71* in 48 balls as England piled up 373/3 in 50 overs.

Controversy ensues as Liam Plunkett caught on cam scratching the ball

During the latter part of the Pakistani innings, when they were charging towards the target, the cameras caught something a miss as an England bowler was caught doing something to the ball. Plunkett was caught by the cameras scratching at the ball using his nails, to get the ball to swing. It actually helped the other bowlers a lot who usually swings the ball in the air like Chris Woakes and David Willey, who were bowling in the death.

This incident reminded of the sandpaper gate that happened in Cape Town in 2018 when Cameron Bancroft was caught using sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball so that it might help the Australian bowlers swing the ball. Later it was revealed that David Warner was the alleged mastermind of all this setup and Steve Smith, then captain okayed the plan. The trio was banned from international cricket by CA after they conducted an inquiry with Smith and Warner getting 12 months to ban each and Bancroft getting a 9-month ban.

If it is proved that Plunkett’s actions actually changed the condition of the ball, and if the Match referee investigates the matter, he might find himself in hot waters, just ahead of the World Cup.

Here is the video of Liam Plunkett allegedly doing the dirty deed:

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