Champions Trophy 2025: Pakistan penalised for slow over rate in tournament opener

Pakistan have been penalised for maintaining slow over rate against New Zealand in the opening game of Champions Trophy 2025. The two sides are tussling hard in Karachi.

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first. Despite losing some early wickets, New Zealand managed to crawl back into the game thanks to centuries from Will Young and Tom Latham. The duo scored 107 and 118 runs respectively as the Kiwi’s posted a challenging total of 320/5.

But all was not well for Pakistan as they failed to maintain the over rate even as Mohammad Rizwan decided to sandwitch pace with spin in the middle overs. Pacer Haris Rauf had multiple false starts during his spell which made them lag behind even further. Additionally, Rizwan had multiple interactions with his bowlers in between overs, leading to a few delays.

To avoid the mishap, Pakistan made Khushdil Shah and Abrar Ahmed bowl in from overs 41-44. This did not yeild better results as by 48th over, they failed to catch up the time. 

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Subsequently, a penalty was imposed, with the team being allowed to position only four fielders )instead of five) outside the 30-yard circle in the last powerplay of the innings.

The Champions Trophy playing conditions state that the minimum over rate to be achieved is 14.28 overs per hour, which results in an ODI innings being completed in three-and-a-half hours. But the first innings came to an end at 6:11 PM local time, taking the duration of the innings to a little over four hours. 

The ICC's Code of Conduct states that every member of the fielding side can be slapped five per cent of their match fee per over as fine if they are short of the minimum rate (capped at 50 per cent of match fee). With regards to this, Pakistan players might also receive fines for being behind the rate.