India vs Australia 2020-21: Virat Kohli and co fined for slow over-rate during 1st ODI
India are playing their first international series in the pandemic era, as they are in Australia for series across formats. On Friday, the side played its first One-Day International at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but succumbed to a 66-run defeat, besides maintaining a slow over-rate.
India's resumption of international cricket during the pandemic era has not been off to a decent start. While they succumbed to a 66-run defeat to Australia in the opening One-Day International (ODI) at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Friday, they were also sanctioned for maintaining a slow over-rate.
On Saturday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) released a statement, saying that India were an over short, taking into consideration the time allowances for both the sides. Consequently, match referee David Boon, along with match umpires Rod Tucker, Sam Nogajski, Paul Reiffel (TV umpire) and Gerard Abood (reserve umpire), levelled the charge.
As a result, Indian skipper Virat Kohli was fined 20% of his match fees, in accordance to Article 2.22 of ICC's code of conduct, which subjects 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'. Meanwhile, Kohli has pleaded guilty to the charge, ruling out any need of a formal hearing.
Match summary: Winning the toss, Australian skipper Aaron Finch elected to bat first on a flat track. The openers were off to an explosive start, as they managed to score 156 within 28 overs. It was followed by twin centuries from Aaron Finch (114) and Steve Smith (105), as they posted a humongous total of 374/6. In reply, India were off to the right start, but the top middle-order batsmen lost their wickets in haste, piling more pressure on the lower middle-order batsmen. While Hardik Pandya did play a brave knock of 90, it was not enough to steer them through, as Adam Zampa's 4/54 allowed the Aussies to win by 66 runs.
India will now take on the Aussies in the second ODI on Sunday, at the same venue. Meanwhile, this would be a do-or-die match for the Indians, as a loss would put them out of contention for a series win.
