Team India continued their winning run as they defeated New Zealand by seven runs in the fifth T20I at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui to complete a 5-0 clean sweep. While they continue to enjoy a good run inside the cricket field, they once again received a huge blow off the field. After reports emerging that Rohit Sharma might be ruled out of the series, the International Cricket Council (ICC) now has once again fined the Men in Blues for slow over-rate; second time in a row.
Batting first, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma starred with the bat scoring the bulk of runs to set up the tone for India with the bat. Rahul missed a fine century while Rohit knocked 60 runs off 41 balls before Shreyas Iyer helped India post a challenging total of 163 runs at the end of 20 overs. While many at the halfway stage thought that New Zealand would chase down the target, Bumrah ensured India register their third clean sweep in a three-plus match series.
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Meanwhile, the Kiwis will be really disappointed with their performance in the series. They were in line to win the last three matches but choked in the fag end of every match to lose the series. They were at 116 for three in 12.3 overs at one stage in pursuit of 164 runs with Tim Seifert and Ross Taylor but once the wicket-keeper batsman departed, the middle-order crumbled. Navdeep Saini and Jasprit Bumrah were brilliant with the ball to snatch the win from the jaws of defeat.
While they have earned praise for their on-field performances, ICC has fined the Men in Blues for their slow-over rate. Chris Broad of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after Rohit Sharma’s side was ruled to be one over short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
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Sharma pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing. On-field umpires Chris Brown and Shaun Haig, and third umpire Ashley Mehrotra levelled the charge.
