On Wednesday, USA were hit with a five-run penalty during their match against India as part of the ICC's newly-enforced rules against over rate offences in limited-overs international matches.
USA cop over-rate penalty with game in balance
At the end of the 15th over of the second innings, India's score stood at 76-3, with a further 35 runs required from 30 balls. But before Jasdeep Singh could begin the 16th over, umpire Paul Reiffel was seen in discussion with the USA captain for the day, Aaron Jones. At the end of their conversation, Reiffel signalled five penalty runs in India's favour, to the scorers.
After some initial confusion, it emerged that the reason for the sanction was that for the third time in the innings, USA had taken longer than 60 seconds from the end of the previous over, to be ready for the current one. It is not yet clear after which overs in the innings the previous two offences had taken place.
In T20s, every single run counts, and it's even more evident in the low-scoring matches we've seen in the USA. Hats off to USA for their fighting spirit! That 5-run penalty proved to make a huge difference#IndVsUsa #T20WorldCup
— DK (@DineshKarthik) June 12, 2024
The new stop-clock rule that hurt USA
The ICC had announced this new 'stop-clock' rule in November 2023, with a statement that read, "The Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) agreed to introduce a stop clock on a trial basis in men's ODI and T20I cricket from December 2023 to April 2024. The clock will be used to regulate the amount of time taken between overs. If the bowling team is not ready to bowl the next over within 60 seconds of the previous over being completed, a 5-run penalty will be imposed the third time it happens in an innings."
However, even before the end of the trial period (April 2024), the ICC confirmed on March 15 that the stop-clock would be a permanent fixture in all ODI and T20I cricket, starting with the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup. The five-run penalty has been outlined under Article 41.9.4 of the ICC's Playing Conditions for the tournament.
After the penalty was imposed, India's target came down to 30 runs from 30 balls. Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube then guided India home, with what eventually turned out to be a 72-run unbeaten stand.
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