Harare, August 31(HS):

Sri Lanka’s cricket team has been fined five percent of their match fees by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for maintaining a slow over rate during the first One Day International (ODI) against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club. The penalty was imposed by ICC Elite Panel Match Referee Jeff Crowe after the team was found to be one over short of the required rate even after accounting for time allowances.

According to Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct, players or teams face a fine of five percent of their match fee for each over they fail to bowl within the allocated match time. Sri Lanka’s captain Charith Asalanka accepted the offence and the sanction without the need for a formal hearing.

The match itself was a thrilling high-scoring encounter where Sri Lanka posted 298 runs in their 50 overs, powered by brilliant innings from Pathum Nissanka, Janith Liyanage, and Kamindu Mendis. Zimbabwe fought back strongly, led by Sikandar Raza and opener Ben Curran, but fell short by just seven runs.

The climax saw Sri Lanka’s pacer Dilshan Madushanka turn the game decisively with a hat-trick in the final over, defending 10 runs by taking three wickets on consecutive balls to seal the thrilling victory.

Sri Lanka now leads the two-match ODI series 1-0 and aims to consolidate the lead in the next match. Despite the win, the team will be mindful of maintaining the required over rate in future to avoid further sanctions and keep the momentum positive ahead of their upcoming Asia Cup campaign

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar