In the opening game of the T20 World Cup in Group A at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, the United States cricket team became the first team to be fined under the new stop-clock rules intended to quicken the tempo of play in T20 international cricket against India.
India was given additional runs since the United States was penalised for not starting the next over promptly. The fielding side must start the next over within 60 seconds of the previous one finishing, according to a rule that went into effect permanently on June 1 for men’s ODIs and T20Is. They incur a five-run penalty and their opponent is given runs if they are unable to accomplish this three times in an innings.
India needed to score 35 runs in the last five overs to meet their target of 111, which was a difficult challenge on a wicket that was bad for batting. For the third time in the innings, the USA failed to begin the 16th over on time, bringing the stop-clock regulation into effect. The five-run penalty was immediately enforced by the umpires, lowering India’s goal to 30 off 30 balls and greatly relieving batting strain.
Aaron Jones, the USA’s captain in place of the injured Monank Patel, was witnessed by the umpires explaining the penalty. The USA squad was forced to accept the penalty and carry on with the game despite the stressful circumstances. The goal of the stop-clock’s adoption was to increase over rates, and during its experimental period, it saved about 20 minutes every ODI match.
But prior to this game, no team had been penalised for adhering to the stop-clock three times in one inning, so the USA were the first team to face the repercussions of this new regulation. India took full advantage of the penalty and won the match with 10 balls remaining, seven wickets ahead of schedule, largely because of their middle-order batters.
With three wins in three games, the triumph guaranteed India’s spot in the Super 8, demonstrating their supremacy in the competition. Now, the USA’s last group-stage encounter against Ireland is a must-win scenario. They would advance to the Super 8s with a victory or no result, but a loss might mean that their chances of qualifying depend on net run rate. (IANS)