The Pakistan cricket team has been fined 20 percent of their match fee for maintaining a slow over rate during the first One Day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka. The penalty was imposed by ICC Match Referee Ali Naqvi, a member of the ICC Panel of Match Referees, after Pakistan was found to be four overs short of the required rate at the end of the innings.
According to Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct, players are fined five percent of their match fee for every over bowled short of the stipulated time. Consequently, the total fine amounted to 20 percent for the four missing overs.
Pakistan’s captain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, accepted the sanction on behalf of his team, which meant that no formal hearing was required in this case. The decision is now final under the ICC’s disciplinary process.
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by six runs in the first match of the series held in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, taking an early lead in the ODI series.