West Indies and Trinbago Knight Riders captain Kieron Pollard was seen applying saliva to the ball in the opening stages of the ongoing CPL final.
The Knight Riders are currently taking on St Lucia Zouks in the tournament decider at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.
TKR are unbeaten so far in the competition and are taking on the Zouks after Daren Sammy’s men hammered Guyana Amazon Warriors in Tuesday’s second semi-final.
Kieron Pollard started the day well by winning the toss and electing to field but the game hadn’t long begun before an individual brain fade resulted in a stoppage.
In the second over, Ali Khan removed Rahkeem Cornwall’s middle stump but with one delivery remaining, the skipper applied saliva to the ball when fielding at cover.
Cameras picked up Pollard putting his hand to his mouth and lips before rubbing his fingers against one side of the ball.
It’s unsure how the umpires were alerted to the issue, but they called for the sanitising wipes to be brought out to the middle.
Pollard and one of the CPL final standing umpires, Gregory Brathwaite, looked to be having a heated discussion in the aftermath of the incident, but there was no suggestion at the time that the act was intentional.
Polly wasn’t the only player guilty of a slip, either.
There was another brief stoppage ahead of the eighth over after an individual from outside of the bubble threw the ball back onto the field following a six, before the bowler, Fawad Ahmed, touched the ball after spitting in his hands.
Sanitising wipes were once again brought on to be applied to the ball before play continued.
St Lucia entered the CPL final as underdogs but Kieron Pollard and co will need to bat well to secure the trophy, with the Zouks reaching on 136-5 at the time of writing, halfway through the 17th over.