Pakistan have been hit with a pair of sanctions for maintaining a slow over-rate during the third and final ICC World Test Championship contest against England in Birmingham.
Pakistan were ruled to be 11 overs shorts of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration during the Edgbaston Test that England won by eight wickets, with the team fined 50 percent of their match fee as a result and receiving an 11-point deduction in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle.
Ranjan Madugalle of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction, after on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Chris Gaffaney, third umpire Allahudien Palekar and fourth umpire Russell Warren levelled the charge.
It means Pakistan lose ground at the bottom of the World Test Championship standings as a result, with the side now sitting in ninth place with a 4.63 points percentage.
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 each over their team fails to bowl within the allotted time, with the maximum penalty capped at 50 percent of the match fee.
In addition, as per Article 16.11.2 of the ICC World Test Championship playing conditions, a side is penalised one point for each over short. Consequently, 11 World Test Championship points have been deducted from Pakistan’s points total.
Pakistan are scheduled to play their next World Test Championship series in November, when they host fellow Asian side Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series in Rawalpindi and Lahore.
