Australia are facing a major penalty after their nine-wicket defeat to Bangladesh in the Darwin Test. Pat Cummins’ team could face a hefty fine as well as losing points in the World Test Championship for failing to complete the required overs within the stipulated time.
On the third day, Australia bowled 86 overs instead of the scheduled 90 overs. That is, they bowled four overs less. According to the International Cricket Council rules, 15 overs are supposed to be bowled per hour in Tests. Generally, the target is to complete 90 overs in a day.
The match referee can recommend action against Australia for falling short of the allotted overs. According to the rules, players can be fined 5 percent of their match fee for each over falling short. The match fee of an Australian cricketer per Test is 20,000 US dollars, which is approximately 24.60 lakh taka in Bangladeshi currency. As a result, each player could be fined about 492,000 taka for falling short of four overs. The total fine for the entire team could be about 54 lakh 12 thousand taka.
In addition to the fine, Australia could also lose points in the World Test Championship. With one point deducted for each over they missed, they could lose four points for a four-over deficit.
Australia are currently at the top of the points table in the World Test Championship. Their points rate after the loss to Bangladesh is 77.78 percent. The deduction of four points will reduce the total points, although it will not affect the points rate or percentage.
On the other hand, Bangladesh was also below the prescribed over-rate in the first innings. However, there is no risk of punishment against them because Bangladesh had bowled out Australia in just 53 overs in the first innings.
According to ICC rules, if a team ends an innings before 80 overs or bowls less than 160 overs in a match, the prescribed over-rate penalty does not apply. Bangladesh is surviving under this rule.
In Australia’s case, however, the situation is different. Bangladesh batted 138 overs in the first innings. As a result, Australia’s over-rate falls under the rules.
However, before making a final decision, the match referee will consider the match conditions. The intense heat in Darwin, the number of wickets fallen and other logical factors may also be taken into account.
Losing points due to over-rates is not new to Australia. They lost four points due to a slow over-rate in the 2020 Boxing Day Test. That points loss ultimately knocked Australia out of the 2021 World Test Championship final.
