ENG vs WI 2025: West Indies fined for slow over-rate in first ODI

The West Indies have been fined five per cent of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate against England in the first ODI at the Edgbaston, Birmingham on Thursday, May 29.

Jeff Crowe of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after Shai Hope’s side was ruled to be one over 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 five per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.

Hope pled guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing. The on-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Martin Saggers, third umpire Adrian Holdstock and fourth umpire Graham Lloyd levelled the charge on the West Indies side.

We’ve got some work to do: WI captain Shai Hope

“We didn’t get the early inroads we were after, especially with the new ball… if you don’t take wickets, you’re going to find yourself playing catch-up. [Plans towards the end?] You’ve got to back your skills. We actually pulled the game back quite nicely with Justin and Motie, who controlled the middle. But we let it slip at the back end when we were trying to get them under 350. We’ve got some work to do,” skipper Shai Hope said after the game.

“[On death bowling] It’s more down to the execution. Our skill set is there. It’s about executing when it really matters. We’ve got some very inexperienced bowlers, so it’s only a matter of time. [Batting struggle?] We have the quality. We’ve shown that over the last couple of months. 400 is a tough task. We didn’t start well in the Powerplay either with the bat and were playing catch-up. You need a very good start and couldn’t get one,” he concluded.