Fact check: Viral video of girl hitting sixes in men's tape ball match is doctored

Multiple users, a majority of whom appear to be cricket fans based on their past posts, have been sharing a video across social media platforms since August 18, 2026, claiming it shows a girl hitting sixes in a men’s tape ball match. However, the video is AI-generated. On August 18, a social media user who appears to be a cricket fan shared a video on Facebook showing a girl hitting sixes in a men’s tape ball match. “Check the shot,” the caption read. The post racked up 75 million views. The same user shared a close-up angle of the same video as well, which garnered 5.4m views. On TikTok, a user shared the same clip with the caption: “Huge six by Mehak Pindi Wali.” The post gained 10.9m views. Another TikTok user also posted the clip, calling the six “unbelievable”. It accumulated 262,000 views. The video also gathered attention on X, where an account that shared it garnered 190,000 views. “You must have seen boys hitting sixes in tape-ball cricket. Today, take a look at the sixes hit by ‘Mehak Pindi Wali’ as well,” the caption read. Several other cricket fan accounts on Instagram, YouTube, X, and TikTok also shared the clip, as seen here, here, here, here, here, here, and here; collectively gaining 405,000 views. Separately, similar clips of the girl in different outfits and angles were shared on TikTok, as seen here, here, here, here, and here; collectively gaining 5.7m views. Methodology A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to high virality and keen public interest in local cricket. A keyword search was conducted to verify whether any credible Pakistani or international media outlets had recently reported on a young girl gaining attention for her performance in a tape ball cricket match, but it yielded no results. A reverse image search was conducted to trace the origin of the viral clip, which yielded a video shared by the TikTok account TapeBall Voice on August 2, 2026. @tapeballvoice2 Big Deal 😲🤝🏏 Hassan Penda Join US Brand Rawalpindi #tapeballcricket #hassanpenda #viralfyp #viral1million ♬ original sound - TapeBall Voice It featured all the elements visible in the viral video: the second batter, the wicketkeeper, the pitch, and the lights. However, the batter on the crease in the August 2 clip has been replaced by a girl in the visuals circulating online. The video was subsequently analysed using AI-detection tools. While several AI detection tools did not flag the video, Hive Moderation found it to be 54.6pc AI-generated. Meanwhile, NVIDIA gave the video a synthetic score of 33.3pc, greater than the threshold of 30pc, adding that the clip was likely synthetic or AI-generated. Fact-check status: False The claim that a viral video shows a girl hitting sixes in a men’s tape ball match is false. The clip is AI-generated. This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.