COLOMBO: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday announced that Sri Lanka have been fined 40 percent of their match fees for maintaining a slow over-rate against the West Indies in the third ODI in Antigua on Sunday.

ICC, in a statement, said Richie Richardson of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after Dimuth Karunaratne’s side was ruled to be two overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration. “In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined 20 percent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time,” ICC said.

“In addition, as per Article 12.9.1 of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League Playing Conditions, a side is penalised one point for each over short. Consequently, Sri Lanka will lose two points from their points tally during the Super League,” it added.

Karunaratne pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing, the cricket governing body said.

Moreover, Danushka Gunathilaka has been reprimanded for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct.

AHMEDABAD: Eoin Morgan on Tuesday added another feather to his illustrious cap as he became the first England cricketer and fourth overall to play 100 T20Is.

The left-handed batsman achieved the feat in the third T20I against India here at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor, Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik, and India opener Rohit Sharma are the other three players to have played more than 100 T20Is. Interestingly, India skipper Virat Kohli, who has played 88 T20I matches, has scored the most runs in the shortest format of the game. Kohli on Sunday became the first-ever batsman to score 3,000 runs in T20Is.

New Zealand’s Martin Guptill is second on the list of leading run-getters in T20I cricket, having scored 2,839 runs in 99 matches while India opener Rohit comes third in the list with 2,773 runs in 108 matches.

FIFA on Tuesday announced its collaboration with the United Nations on Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to launch the Global Integrity Programme — a comprehensive international programme aimed at providing all 211 member associations with enhanced knowledge and tools to fight and prevent match manipulation.

In line with FIFA’s overall vision of making football truly global, as well as its ongoing commitment to protecting and promoting the integrity of the game, the FIFA Global Integrity Programme is designed to improve education and build integrity capacity within all 211 member associations by sharing advanced know-how and resources with integrity officers. The programme also reflects the UNODC’s objective of supporting governments and sports organisations in their efforts to safeguard sport from corruption and crime. With the objective of setting up successful and sustainable integrity and anti-corruption initiatives at the local level, the new programme is organised regionally per confederation and includes a series of three-module virtual workshops to be delivered to all FIFA member associations. The first edition of the programme, dedicated to the member associations from the Asian Football Confederation, started with the first module on March 4 and will continue with the second module on March 16.

Speaking about the FIFA Global Integrity Programme, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said: “Match-fixing is an issue that is very real and threatens the integrity and credibility of football in many countries around the world. Working in close collaboration with experts at the UNODC and alongside other ongoing efforts that FIFA is taking, the FIFA Global Integrity Programme is another important step by FIFA to protect the integrity of football and will play an important role in educating and building capacity within member associations to help fight match-fixing at a local level.”

Alongside the FIFA Global Integrity Programme, FIFA has also announced that it will shortly be launching the FIFA Integrity Officers Community Platform.

Saptak Talwar, became the first Indian to earn playing rights on the 2021 PGA Tour Canada season. Talwar earned this right by competing in the Mackenzie Tour Qualifying Tournament, Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, USA closing out with a combined score of 9-under, to finish tied for fourth and earning him a spot on the Tour.

“I am very grateful to be a member of the 2021 PGA Tour Canada, Mackenzie Tour. I have been dreaming of becoming a professional golfer since the age of six and to start the journey at such a prestigious tour is truly an honour and I cannot wait for the season to start.”

One hundred and six players competed in the tournament, which was played out at Mission Inn Resort, Florida from March 2-5, 2021. Talwar ended the tournament only six strokes behind the tournament winner, Luis Gagne.

“I never felt an ounce of pressure throughout the week apart from the last 5 holes coming in. Going into the week, I convinced myself that at the end of the day it’s golf and the ball or club doesn’t know who’s hitting and if it’s for birdie or bogey.”

New Delhi native, Talwar, shot 69-74-67-69 (9-under, 279), with a record 21 birdies, which was the highest in the field.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) players Mohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar Butt on Tuesday were banned from all cricket for eight years each after the ICC Anti-Corruption Tribunal found them guilty of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

The bans are backdated to 16 October 2019, when they were provisionally suspended for attempting to corrupt matches of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 in the UAE. Following a full hearing and presentation of written and oral argument, the Tribunal found both Naveed and Shaiman guilty of: Article 2.1.1 — for being party to an agreement or effort to fix or contrive or otherwise influence improperly the result, progress, conduct, or other aspects of a match or matches at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019.

Article 2.4.4 — Failing to disclose to the ACU full details of any approaches or invitations received to engage in corrupt conduct under the Code at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019.

Naveed was also found guilty of breaching the following two counts of the Emirates Cricket Board Anti-Corruption Code for Participants of the T10 League 2019: Article 2.1.1 — for being party to an agreement or effort to fix or contrive or otherwise influence improperly the result, progress, conduct, or other aspects of a match or matches at the T10 League 2019.

Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow played unbeaten knocks of 83 and 40 respectively as England secured a comfortable eight-wicket win over India in the third T20I here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday evening.

With this win, England has now gained a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. Both teams will now meet in the fourth T20I on Thursday which will be played at the same venue. Chasing 157, England openers Jason Roy and Jos Buttler put on 23 runs for the first wicket, but the introduction of Yuzvendra Chahal paid off straight away when he dismissed Roy (9) in the fourth over as the right-handed batsman was trying to play a reverse-sweep. This dismissal, however, did not bring about a check in the run-flow, as Buttler went berserk and the visitors’ scored read 57/1 at the end of the powerplay.

Dawid Malan and Buttler stitched together a stand of 58 runs for the second wicket, but Malan’s (18) vigil at the crease was finally cut short in the 10th over by Washington Sundar as he had the left-handed batsman stumped, reducing England to 81/2, still 76 runs away from the target.

Bairstow came out to bat at number four and he along with set Buttler ensured that England did not suffer from more hiccups and in the end, the visitors crossed the line with eight balls to spare. Buttler and Bairstow stitched an unbeaten stand of 77 runs for the third wicket.

Earlier, skipper Virat Kohli’s unbeaten knock of 77 runs off just 46 balls helped India post 156/6 in the allotted 20 overs. Down and out going into the last five overs of the innings, Kohli led from the front in all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s company as the duo added 69 runs from 30 balls to take the hosts’ total past the 150-run mark.

Hardik had joined Kohli with the score on 86/5 in 14.3 overs and what followed was nothing short of a master-class on power-hitting. Interestingly, it was Hardik who played second-fiddle in their 70-run partnership off just 33 balls as Kohli went on a hitting spree. This was India’s highest sixth-wicket partnership in T20Is.

India’s score read 87/5 going into the last five with Kohli on 28 off 29 balls and Hardik yet to open his account. And at the end of the innings, Kohli was standing unbeaten on 77 off 46 balls with eight boundaries and four sixes. It was a complete class on batsmanship as Kohli didn’t hit a single cross-batted shot and banked on his technique to send the English bowlers on a leather hunt.

Put into bat, the hosts once again had a poor start as they lost three wickets inside the powerplay. Openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma were back in the hut inside the opening five overs. While Rahul departed for his third duck of the series, Rohit playing his first white-ball match for India since February last year got out after hitting two fours as Mark Wood picked his second wicket of the day.

Ishan Kishan, who had a dream debut on Sunday, fell for just four runs as he skied one behind the wicket and Buttler made no mistake. Kohli and Rishabh Pant tried to rebuild the innings and stitched a 40-run stand. Just when things started to look good for the hosts, Pant got run-out trying to steal a third run. With India struggling at 86/4 in the 14th over, Wood was brought into the attack, and he removed Shreyas Iyer as the hosts lost half the side.

Brief scores: India 156/6 (Virat Kohli 77*, Rishabh Pant 25, Mark Wood 3-31); England 158/2 (Jos Buttler 83*, Jonny Bairstow 40*, Washington Sundar 1-26).