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Pakistan's scandal-tainted cricketers were facing a new corruption probe after reports of irregularities in the third one-day international with England, officials confirmed.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) said it had launched an investivation into a "certain scoring pattern" that emerged during Pakistan's victory over England at the Oval on Friday. It followed a report by The Sun newspaper, which claimed to have been made aware of details of Pakistan's innings before the match had got underway.
The paper tipped off cricket authorities, who then watched as the scoring patterns in two suspect overs emerged as predicted, The Sun report said. The overall result of the match was not believed to be fixed, the report added.
ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the new allegations - which follow the suspension of three Pakistan players for alleged involvement in 'spot-fixing' - warranted further investigation.
"Following information received by the ICC from a British newspaper and its source, the ICC now believes a full investigation is warranted," an ICC statement read.
The Pakistan Cricket Board reacted angrily to the allegations, dismissing The Sun report as "sensationalism".
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Saturday it believed the remaining two contests in the five-match one-day series would take place as scheduled. The ECB later confirmed no English players or member of the team management were implicated in the latest probe.
