India fast bowler Kranti Gaud has been fined 10% of her match fee and received one demerit point for gesturing toward Sri Lanka opener Imesha Dulani during the Women’s T20 Asia Cup final in Dubai. It was Gaud’s first offense in a 24-month period.
The incident occurred in the first over of Sri Lanka’s innings when Gaud waved in the direction of the pavilion after dismissing the batter. She was found guilty of breaching Level 1 of Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage, or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an international match”.
Gaud admitted the offense and accepted the sanction proposed by match referrer Supriya Das. Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50% of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.
Separately, Pakistan players were fined 5% of their match fee for maintaining a slow over rate in the semi-final against Sri Lanka. Match referee GS Lakshmi imposed the sanction after Pakistan were ruled to be one over short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
As per Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct, players are fined 5% of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.