Pakistan players were fined 5% of their match fee as Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan pleaded guilty to maintaining a slow over-rate during their match against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy.
Deafening Champions and 2025 season host Pakistan lost to New Zealand by 60 runs at the National Stadium in Karachi on Wednesday. On Thursday, they were fined 5% of the match fee for a slow over-rate against New Zealand. As per ICC, they were found short of the target by one over after time allowances were taken into account. As a result, they had to place an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle for the final over of New Zealand’s innings.
On-field umpires Richard Kettleborough and Sharfuddoula, third-umpire Joel Wilson, and fourth-umpire Alex Wharf brought the charge, and match referee Andy Pycroft imposed the penalty. Meanwhile, Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan pleaded guilty to the offence dismissing the need for a formal hearing.
Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel concerns the minimum over-rate offense. According to this article, players are fined 5% of their match fee for every over if their team fails to bowl within the allotted time.
Meanwhile, Pakistan suffered another jolt on Thursday with Fakhar Zaman ruled out for the entire tournament due to injury. Imam-ul-Haq has replaced Fakhar after approval from ICC. Rizwan and his side will next face arch-rivals India on February 23 in Dubai.
