Trinbago Knight Riders became the first team to be shown a red card for an over-rate breach in CPL 2023 on August 27. Knight Riders captain Kieron Pollard made his displeasure with the rule clear after the game.

CPL 2023 has introduced new penalties to tackle increasingly slow over rates. If a fielding team starts their 18th over beyond the scheduled time, they would need to bring one extra fielder inside the thirty-yard circle. If they were behind before the start of the 19th over as well, another fielder had to come in, making it just three outside the circle.

If the fielding team is still behind before the start of the final over, they would be shown a red card, and be required to send a fielder of their choice off the field. This would bring the total number of fielders on the field down from 11 to 10, including the bowler and the wicketkeeper. Among the eight fielders, six would have to be inside the circle, leaving only two outside.

In the 12th match of CPL 2023, Trinbago Knight Riders became the first team to be affected by these new penalties when they were found to be in breach of their time allocations against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.

Captain Kieron Pollard chose to send Sunil Narine off for the final over, which was bowled by Dwayne Bravo with only two fielders outside the thirty-yard circle.

Sherfane Rutherford capitalised on the Knight Riders’ misery, knocking off 18 runs in the final over. Pollard, who hit four 100-metre sixes in an over during the Knight Rider’s run-chase to take them to a six-wicket victory, was not impressed by the red-card rule.

“To be honest, it will take away the hard work everyone has done. We are like the pawns and we are going to do what we are told. We are going to play as fast as we can. If you are penalized for 30-45 seconds in a tournament like this, it is absolutely ridiculous.”

Over-rate penalties have been in focus over the last few years in international cricket as well. The ICC has tried out various measures and penalties to force teams to be quick on the field.

In January last year, they introduced the in-game penalty of allowing one less fielder outside the circle if the fielding side didn’t start the final over of a T20I innings on time. Slow over-rates have also resulted in teams missing out on World Test Championship final berths in the past. Most recently, the ICC meted out severe points penalties for slow over rates after the 2023 Ashes, which was met with frustration by the players, much like Pollard’s sentiments after the CPL match.

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