WI vs AUS 2025: West Indies fined for slow over-rate in fourth T20I

The West Indies players have been fined 10 per cent of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate in the fourth T20I against Australia in St. Kitts on Saturday.

Reon King of the ICC International Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after the West Indies were ruled to be two overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration. 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 five per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.

Captain Shai Hope pled guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing. Meanwhile, the on-field umpires Gregory Brathwaite and Leslie Reifer, third umpire Zahid Bassarath and fourth umpire Deighton Buttler levelled the charge.

“We understand how difficult it is to defend a score here. The way the Aussies have been batting, I think we need a little bit more runs to cushion our bowling performances. But maybe we didn't assess as well as we could have. That's something that we still need to look at going into the last game,” skipper Hope said at the post-match presentation. 

[On the fielding] “We always understand or we kind of neglect the importance of strong fielding performances, especially when the ball is flying all over the place. You've got to ensure that you're putting your body on the line, taking those crucial chances because that can be the deciding factor of who wins and who loses. So it's something that we may have let ourselves down in a sense. But the reality is fielding is very important in cricket games, especially close ones when you have to give yourself a chance of winning,” he added.

On the other hand, the Aussie skipper Mitch Marsh also looked happily impressed with the way the team performed to extend their lead to 4-0 in the ongoing five-match series. He also felt that his bowlers did well to stem the flow of runs, despite delivering on a batting-friendly track.

“I think it was an all-round really good effort. To take a few early wickets, we know teams like the West Indies are going, with how deep they bat, we knew that they're going to come hard the whole innings, which they did. But, I thought the way we were able to, I guess, navigate some tricky overs and keep taking wickets, I sort of feel 230 is probably par on that. I thought it was an outstanding effort with the ball,” Marsh said.

The fifth T20I will be played on Tuesday, July 29.