India vs Australia: Virat Kohli & co docked 20% of match fee for slow over rate in 1st ODI

Team India's players were docked 20% of their match fee for maintaining slow over rate during the 1st ODI against Australia at Sydney on Saturday. Returning to international cricketing after the Coronavirus-forced break, Virat Kohli & co were handed a 66-run loss as Australia romped home to victory. The Men in Blue looked slightly out of touch on Friday with many misfields, dropped catches and sloppy fielding forcing India to concede a mammoth target of 375 runs. 

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ICC match referee David Boon imposed the sanction after India was ruled to be one over short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.8 "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 on Saturday. "Skipper Virat Kohli pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing," the release further stated. On-field umpires Rod Tucker and Sam Nogajski, TV umpire Paul Reiffel and fourth umpire Gerard Abood levelled the charge.

The first ODI between India and Australia was supposed to end at around 10.10 pm local time. However, it was 30 minutes past the deadline and the game was at that point where eight overs were still left to be played. Everyone who witnessed the match questioned what more needs to be done to the captains and team and punish them for maintaining slow over rates. Bowling slow over rates is something that has often been started to be done consistently by many teams across all forms of the game.

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Hardik Pandya's rescue act

Hardik Pandya kept the visitors in the run chase when they were staring down the barrel at 101/4 in the 14th over as he added impetus to India's middle-order along with opener Shikhar Dhawan with a 128-run stand for the fifth-wicket. Just when it appeared that he would do the unthinkable, he lost his wicket in the 39th over while trying to match up with the steep asking rate. Hardik fell for a superb 76-ball 90 at a strike rate of 118.42 that included seven boundaries and four maximums. 
The Men In Blue failed to rediscover their rhythm thereafter and even stellar cameos from Ravindra Jadeja (25) & Navdeep Saini (29) did not help their cause either as Kohli & Co. were restricted to 308/8 in their 50 overs.

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Finch, Smith power the Aussies to win

Earlier, Australian skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat first. Both Finch and David Warner ensured a brisk start for the Aussies with a 156-run opening stand before the latter departed.  The captain was then joined by Steve Smith and both of them toyed around with the Indian bowling line-up. The duo added 108 runs for the third-wicket stand as Finch scored a fantastic century. At one point, it seemed that the Indian bowlers were staging a remarkable comeback as they picked up wickets at regular intervals. However, Smith ensured that he made them toil hard to get his wicket. He was eventually rewarded for it as he scored his 10th ODI century. The number three batsman was dismissed in the final over for 105 but he had done his job as the five-time world champions finished their innings at 374/6 from their 50 overs.

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