Gayle fined 70 per cent of match fee for slow over-rate

Port of Spain, Apr 7 (UNI) West Indies captain Chris Gayle was fined 70 per cent of his match fees by the ICC for his team bowling its overs too slowly during the second Test against Sri Lanka.

Gayle was found to have breached Level 2.11 of the ICC Code which relates to unfair play while other players of his team were each fined 35 per cent of their match fees for the same offence.

The verdict was issued following a hearing conducted by Match Referee Chris Broad after play concluded yesterday when West Indies side was found to have been six overs short of the required over-rate, an offence to which Gayle pleaded not guilty.

''During the hearing, neither the captain, coach nor manager was able to persuade me that the shortfall in overs was beyond their control or that the allowances permitted to teams by the match officials were not appropriate,'' said Broad.

''I saw very little evidence that the West Indies team, after learning of their slow over-rate predicament, actually tried to speed things up. Therefore, they left me with little option but to enact this penalty,'' he added.

The charge was brought by match officials Simon Taufel and Billy Bowden of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.

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