West Indies captain Jason Holder has received a one-match suspension for maintaining a slow over-rate during the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Since it was Holder’s second transgression of the year – he had been found guilty of a minor over-rate offence in the fifth ODI against South Africa in January – he will now miss West Indies’ second match of the ongoing Sri Lanka series, on Wednesday.
Holder was also fined 40% of his match fees, while his team-mates were docked 20% of theirs. The fine and suspension was imposed by the match referee David Boon, who ruled that West Indies were two overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration. Holder pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing.
In accordance with Article 2.5.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Players Support Personnel, which relates to minor over-rate offences, players are fined 10 % of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount.
Holder slammed a 13-ball 36 in the first ODI to give West Indies some much-needed impetus, but his team narrowly lost the match by one wicket.