COLOMBO – Batsmen Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal were left wondering which of them was out on Saturday against Sri Lanka in the World Cup after a mix-up left them both comically stranded at the same end. Kamran Akmal scampered to the striker’s end for a quick single when Hafeez swept the ball behind the wicket facing off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s in the 13th over.
Hafeez did not move an inch, even after Sri Lanka wicketkeeper and skipper Kumar Sangakkara’s initial throw eluded Muralitharan. Angelo Mathews successfully returned it to the bowler for the simplest of run outs.
For a couple of agonising minutes — for Pakistan — the confused batsmen tried to figure out who faced his marching orders before Hafeez trudged disconsolately back to the pavilion after a brief consultation with the umpires.
The dismissal, to the huge delight and amusement of a partisan, packed Colombo crowd, left Pakistan on 76-2.
Tragicomedy for Hafeez, Akmal runs into a dead end
