Sri Lanka become first men’s team to incur new over-rate penalty

Nuwan Thushara had to bowl the final over of Australia’s innings with only four fielders – and not five – outside the 30-yard circle

“There is a criticism of T20 cricket that sometimes the games drag out, so if that penalty is there, you let a bowler know that he’s bowling with four men out versus five men out, it’s a pretty clear choice which one he wants,” he had said. “It’s very difficult to bowl with four men out. I think you’ll see that rule potentially shifting games and I love to see it. The in-game penalty, for me, is the only way forward to deter teams from slowing the game down.”

The new rule has already come into effect once in women’s T20Is, with Australia penalised for their slow over rate during the first T20I of the Women’s Ashes recently, leaving Megan Schutt with only four fielders outside the circle when she began the final over of England’s innings.

Previous penalties for slow over rates had included suspending captains and fining teams portions of their match fees. Both in the ODI Super League and the World Test Championship, teams can also lose league points for slow over rates.