Basseterre (St Kitts), December 10 (IANS). West Indies bowler Alzarri Joseph has been fined 25 per cent of his match fee by the ICC for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct by using offensive language in a conversation with a match official during the first ODI against Bangladesh. The host team won this match by five wickets.
Joseph was found to have breached Article 2.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which deals with the “use of audio obscenity”.
Additionally, one demerit point has been added to Joseph’s disciplinary record, his first offense in a period of 24 months, the ICC said in a statement on Tuesday, minutes before the start of the second ODI.
The incident occurred before the start of the game on Sunday, when Joseph used offensive and abusive language in an argument with the fourth umpire, after the umpire had forbidden Joseph to step onto the pitch wearing spikes.
Joseph pleaded guilty and accepted the penalty proposed by Jeff Crowe of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, so there was no need for a formal hearing.
On-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Leslie Reifer, third umpire Asif Yaqoob and fourth umpire Gregory Brathwaite made the allegations.
The minimum penalty for a Level 1 violation is an official reprimand, the maximum penalty is 50 percent of the player’s match fee and one or two demerit points.
Joseph took 2 for 67 and Romario Shepherd took 3 for 51 as West Indies restricted Bangladesh to 294/6. Captain Mehdi Hasan Miraj (74), Tanzeed Hasan (60), Mahmudullah (50 not out) and Zakhar Ali (48) took Bangladesh to 294/6.
Thanks to Sherfane Rutherford’s inning of 113 runs on 80 balls and captain Shai Hope’s inning of 86 runs, West Indies won the match by scoring 295/5 with 14 balls remaining.
–IANS
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