West Indies penalised for slow over-rate in 4th T20I

The West Indies players who maintained a slow over-rate in Saturday’s fourth Twenty20 International match against Australia in St. Kitts were fined 10% of their match fee.

After time allowances were taken into account, the West Indies were determined to be two overs short of the target, and Reon King of the ICC International Panel of Match Referees assessed the sentence. For each over their team fails to bowl in the allocated time, players are penalised 5% of their match fee in accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which deals with minimum over-rate offences.

There was no need for a formal hearing because Captain Shai Hope admitted to the crime and agreed to the suggested punishment. The charge was levelled by third umpire Zahid Bassarath, fourth umpire Deighton Buttler, and on-field umpires Gregory Brathwaite and Leslie Reifer.

We are aware of how challenging it is to protect a score in this situation. I believe we need a few extra runs to offset our bowling performances, given the way the Australians have been hitting. However, we may not have done a thorough enough assessment. At the post-match presentation, captain Hope stated, “That’s something that we still need to look at going into the last game.”

[During the fielding] “We always recognize—or perhaps we overlook—the significance of excellent fielding performances, particularly when the ball is flying everywhere. Because it could determine who wins and who loses, you must make sure you’re risking all and taking those important chances. Therefore, it’s something that we might have somewhat failed at. However, the truth is that fielding is crucial in cricket matches, particularly close ones when you need to give yourself a chance to win,” he continued.

However, the team’s performance to increase their advantage to 4-0 in the current five-match series also seems to have pleased Australian captain Mitch Marsh. Despite bowling on a batting-friendly ground, he thought his bowlers did a good job of stopping the run flow.

“I think the effort was excellent overall. Because of how deep they bat, we knew that teams like the West Indies would come hard throughout the innings, and they did, so we took a few early wickets. However, I felt that 230 is probably comparable to how we were able to, I suppose, handle some challenging overs and continue to take wickets. Marsh remarked, “I thought it was an outstanding effort with the ball.”

On Tuesday, July 29, the sixth Twenty20 International will take place.