The International Cricket Council (ICC) on March 13 (Sunday) fined the West Indies women’s cricket team 40 per cent of their match fees for maintaining a slow over-rate during the ICC Women's ODI World Cup match against India.
ICC's stand
Shandre Fritz of the ICC International Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction as the Stafanie Taylor-led West Indies cricket team were ruled to be two overs short of the target after time allowances were considered.
"In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined 20 per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time," the ICC said in a statement.
Taylor pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction.
On-field umpires Eloise Sheridan and Paul Wilson, third umpire Ahmed Shah Pakteen and fourth umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge levelled the charge.
The outcome
Indian team led by Mithali Raj took on West Indies in the ongoing World Cup on March 12 (Saturday) and team India scripted a comfortable victory in the game as they thrashed their opponents by 155 runs.
Batting first, Indian team registered a mammoth total of 317 runs losing eight wickets in 50 overs. Indian opener Smriti Mandhana (123 runs off 119 balls) and vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur (109 runs off 107 deliveries) showed amazing batting skills to help their side in reaching a big total.
Harmanpreet became the first Indian to score three centuries in the Women’s ODI World Cup. Previously, Indian skipper Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana had scored two centuries in the mega event. In T20I cricket also, Harmanpreet has a sensational record as she is the only Indian to score a century in Women's T20 World Cup.
Indian skipper Mithali also achieved a rare milestone as she overtook Australia's Belinda Clark for most appearances as captain in the 50-over World Cup. Previously, the Indian skipper became the first female cricketer and third overall to feature in six World Cup events.
In reply, West Indies could manage to reach a paltry total of 162 runs in 40.3 overs. For India, their bowler Sneh Rana scalped three wickets to help her side in claiming a convincing win.
