Pollock criticises De Kock ‘deception’

CENTURION, South Africa: Former South African captain Shaun Pollock on Wednesday said he believed South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock was guilty of deception in the run-out of Pakistan batsman Fakhar Zaman during the second One-day International in Johannesburg on Sunday.

But Pollock said he believed De Kock was not aware of a law which outlaws wilful attempts to “distract, deceive or obstruct” a batsman.

Speaking in his role as a commentator for SuperSport television in the build-up to the third and final match in Centurion, Pollock said he believed the incident should have been sent to the third umpire for a ruling.

It happened off the first ball of the final over, which started with Pakistan needing 31 to win. Fakhar hit the ball to long-off and was run-out when he slowed down before completing a second run, with De Kock seemingly indicating that a throw from Aiden Markram should be aimed at the bowler’s end.

Fakhar was out for 193.

If the umpires had decided that there was deliberate deception, they could have awarded five penalty runs to Pakistan, which would have kept the touring team in with a chance of winning, with Fakhar remaining on strike.