Tom Moores smashes Usman Tariq for back-to-back sixes as controversial Pakistan spinner goes wicketless in The Hundred defeat

Tom Moores smashes Usman Tariq for back-to-back sixes as controversial Pakistan spinner goes wicketless in The Hundred defeat originally appeared on Cricket News .

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Tom Moores struck Usman Tariq for back-to-back sixes during Manchester Super Giants' innings at Old Trafford.

The Pakistan spinner finished wicketless as Birmingham Phoenix slipped to defeat.

Tariq's action has drawn repeated chucking allegations from Australian batters this year.

Tom Moores smashes Usman Tariq for back-to-back sixes as he goes wicketless in The Hundred defeat

Old Trafford served up another chastening evening for Usman Tariq on Sunday, the Pakistan spinner enduring a difficult outing as Birmingham Phoenix went down to Manchester Super Giants. The mystery bowler, whose action has been the subject of relentless scrutiny, found no answers on a surface that offered him little.

Manchester posted 187/5 from their 100 balls, built around a brisk 39 from Tom Moores, before Phoenix fell short in the chase at their Manchester venue. Aiden Markram's side collected all four points to make it two wins from two, leaving the visitors to rue a night where their overseas spinner was picked off with ease.

Tariq's most painful moment arrived at death, and it came courtesy of Moores. Facing the off-spinner in the final phase, the left-hander rocked back to a shorter length and hammered a pull over deep midwicket for six, then followed up by shuffling across to bludgeon a tossed-up delivery straight back down the ground for another maximum.

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Moores punishes a costly final set

The back-to-back sixes summed up a spell in which Tariq's variations lacked bite. Earlier, Jos Buttler had also taken a toll, with a wayward carrom ball darting down the leg side and running away for five wides in his middle set of deliveries.

The spinner bowled across three phases and failed to take a breakthrough in any of them. Buttler, who anchored the Manchester innings and was named Player of the Match, was watchful against Tariq early before the acceleration came at the back end of the innings.

For a bowler signed as Birmingham's overseas trump card, a wicketless return on a used surface will invite further questions about his effectiveness in English conditions.

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Action controversy shadows every appearance

The wider backdrop is impossible to ignore. Tariq's action has been under sustained examination, and the noise has grown louder in 2026. During the T20 World Cup earlier this year, Australia all-rounder Cameron Green mimicked a baseball-style throwing motion after being dismissed by him, a pointed gesture aimed at the spinner's unusual release.

Tim David became the second Australia batter to question the action, appearing to suggest a no-ball to the umpire after edging behind against Tariq in the Hundred on Friday. Tariq was previously reported for a suspect action during both the 2024 and 2025 editions of the Pakistan Super League by on-field umpires.

The spinner has consistently defended himself, telling MYK Sports in April 2025 that his mechanics owe to his physical build. He said, "My action is unique because my body dimensions are unique. My body frame is not like the common person. I do have two elbows in my arm."

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Scrutiny will only sharpen from here

For all Tariq's insistence that his action has been tested and cleared, performances like this one hand his critics fresh ammunition. A wicketless, expensive night against a strong Manchester batting order does nothing to quiet the murmurs that have followed him from the PSL to the World Cup and now into the Hundred.

The challenge for Tariq is that scrutiny of his action and questions over his output have become intertwined. When the wickets flow, the debate feels academic, but a display like Sunday's ensures that every stumble is read through the lens of the controversy that refuses to leave him.

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