WATCH — Fakhar Zaman almost hits umpire Chris Gaffaney's head with this shot

ICC umpire Chris Gaffaney, who was officiating in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup played between Australia and Pakistan as the on-field umpire, cheated death on Thursday (11 November) when he ducked in time to avoid getting hit by a straight hit from Pakistan batter Fakhar Zaman. 

In one of the death overs bowled by Australia's Mitchell Starc, Zaman got one ball right in his slot and the batter who was looking to get back to his brutal best, smacked it back.

Fakhar Zaman definitely wanted the Umpire's head on a silver platter! __ #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/n2D3VMu6HQ— Kuda Jr (@kudaville) November 11, 2021

The ball was hit dead straight and it almost took Gaffaney's head with it.

Had the umpire not taken the evasive action in time, he would have been hit straight on his face and it could well have been deadly. 

Gaffaney fell on the ground, in time and looked a little taken aback after that shot. Seeing these scenes, commentator Bazid Khan right described the shot as an 'umpire killer'. 

Gaffaney is a professional umpire. He took a moment to recollect himself and got up on his feet to call it a boundary.

Pakistan, thanks to fifties from Mohammad Rizwan and Zaman, registered 176/4 at the end of 20 overs.