The International Cricket Council (ICC) has penalized the Pakistan national cricket team for maintaining a slow over rate in the first ODI of the tri-series against the Sri Lanka national cricket team.
The punishment for the Pakistan national cricket team comes after Sri Lanka national cricket team players expressed their desire to leave the country following a scary suicide bombing in Islamabad.
Pakistan fined 20% of match fee
The Pakistan national cricket team and the Sri Lanka national cricket team clashed in the first ODI of the tri-nation clash at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, 11 November.
Both the teams fought hard in the middle, but in the end the home team emerged victorious. The Men in Green won the match by 6 runs and Salman Agha won the Player of the Match award for his sensational century.
However, after the match, Pakistan faced huge trouble as a suicide bombing incident took place in Islamabad, which left the Sri Lankan players extremely scared and asked them to leave the country.
However, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) threatened a “formal review” if the players and support staff left the tour due to security concerns. It was later decided that the Lankan players would continue the tour and their security was increased.
Pakistan fined for slow over rate
After settling the matter with Sri Lanka, Pakistan suffered another blow as the ICC penalized the national team for maintaining a slow over rate in the first ODI against Sri Lanka.
He has been fined 20 per cent of his match fee, and the Shaheen Afridi-led side was fined by Ali Naqvi of the Emirates ICC Panel of Match Referees for falling four overs short of the target after considering time allowances.
“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, players are fined five per cent of the match fee for each over they fail to bowl in the allotted time. The fee was imposed by on-field umpires Alex Wharfe and Asif Yaqoob, third umpire Sharafuddaula Ibne Shahid and fourth umpire Rashid Riaz. Pakistan captain Shaheen Afridi The PCB accepted the proposed sanction, saying there was no need for a formal hearing.
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The credit for the way he batted goes to Salman Aga and Hussain Talat – Shaheen Afridi
Speaking after the end of the first ODI, Shaheen Afridi lauded Salman Agha and Hussain Talat for their heroics and praised Haris Rauf for his bravery with the ball. He said:
“The way they batted and took us to 300 on the board, credit goes to Salman Aga and Hussain Talat. The percentage of dot balls in the first 10 overs was very high. The kind of start we got, we were expecting 250-260 runs, the credit goes to Haris Rauf for the way he bowled today. Really enjoyed that spell. Haris has been in white-ball cricket for a long time He was a wicket taker for us (from Babar Azam).”
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka said that they lost a few wickets early in the middle overs, which led to their downfall. He said:
“The start was amazing. I still think we could have restricted them to around 260-270. We lost wickets, including mine, in that middle period and we took some wrong decisions. We all know he is a superstar (Hasaranga) with the ball, and today he played to his full potential with the bat. Hope he continues this form.”
