Sarfaraz-led Pakistan came up with an all-round effort to beat one of the tournament favourites England, who came into the match on the back of trouncing South Africa by 104 runs.
However, the contest was marred by Pakistan’s alleged attempt to change the condition of the ball in order to get reverse-swing during the World Cup clash against England, by throwing the ball constantly on the rough patches.
Reportedly, England themselves had tried the same strategy. However, the on-field umpires took a note of the situation and warned both the teams. England star batsman Jos Buttler was even seen taking a look at the condition of the ball after he was dismissed at 103.
Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg took a sly dig at Pakistan by posting a sarcastic tweet.
"Pakistan, either have sore throwing arms or have very accurate ones. They're finding the rough patches in front of Sarfaraz while throwing the ball in from the outfield. It's a legal skill, expecting a bit of reverse swing in the final 10," tweeted Brad Hogg.
England skipper Morgan reacts to 'ball handling'
Skipper Morgan revealed that the on-filed officials had a word with him on the issue. “There were discussions throughout the whole of the two innings. The umpires came to me, mid-innings, and seemed to think that we were throwing the ball in on the bounce too much or it was being over exaggerated,” said Morgan.
“They emphasised it would be the same for both. It was really about us then… that conversations that were stopping the game were that Pakistan were doing the same thing. Jos was just intrigued to see the ball. When the ball is hit against the LED advertising boards it does scuff it up quite a lot so we he was just interested to see if one side was tougher than the other, natural or unnatural,” he added.