New Zealand vs India: Visitors fined for slow over-rate in the fourth T20I in Wellington

India have been fined 40 per cent of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate against New Zealand in the fourth Twenty20 International in Wellington. Chris Broad of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanctions after Virat Kohli’s  side was 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 20 per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.

Kohli pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing. On-field umpires Chris Brown and Shaun Haig, and third umpire Ashley Mehrotra levelled the charges.

India clinch the thrilling win in super over again

Coming onto the match, the 4th T20I turned out to be another nail-biting contest between New Zealand and India. The Men in Blue posted a competitive score of 165 runs for a loss of eight wickets in stipulated 20 overs. Manish Pandey played a responsible knock of unbeaten 50* runs off 36 balls studded with three boundaries. KL Rahul also contributed well as he muscled 39 runs off 26 balls with three boundaries and two big sixes.

During the chase, the fans had expected that the hosts’ might chase the target quite easily in their home conditions but that was not the case. Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Martin Guptill in the fifth over of the innings. Later on, Colin Munro (64 runs off 47 balls) and Tim Siefert (57 runs off 39 balls) stitched an amazing partnership of 74 runs.

However, the duo’s brilliant effort with the bat only helped their side in posting 165 runs in 20 overs that took the match into the Super over. This was the second occasion in the ongoing series when the game was tied. The hosts gave a target of 14 runs and Team India easily chased the target on the back of brilliant batting performance given by KL Rahul and Virat Kohli to make it 4-0 in the series.