WATCH: Afghanistan awarded five penalty runs following ball tampering allegation against Netherlands
In a controversial incident, the Netherlands faced a five-run penalty on Tuesday (January 25) in Qatar, playing the third and final ODI of the series against Afghanistan, after being found guilty of indulging in unfair play tactics.
The penalty was imposed by the two on-field umpires at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha. During the 31st over of Afghanistan’s innings, Dutch fielder Vivian Kingma was caught by cameras trying to rub the ball on his legs while holding the ball in a way that his nails were in contact with it.
Scratching the ball amounts to a direct offense of trying to alter the condition of the ball, an act of ball-tampering. Kingma and Netherlands fielding unit was alledged of ball-tampering on the field and after seeing the footage on camera, the two standing officials come to the conclusion that they deserve a five-run penalty for unfair play.
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Netherlands faced alleged ball-tampering penalty of 5 runs against Afghanistan.
Netherlands face 5-run penalty for alleged ball-tampering
The Netherlands were found in direct breach of Law 41.2.1.1 and Law 41.2.1.1 of the ICC adapted MCC Laws concerning Unfair Play.
SLAPPED WITH A PENALTY!
#Afghanistan were awarded 5⃣ crucial runs after #Netherlands’ bowler #Glover was found guilty of ball tampering.
Watch the highlights of the 3rd ODI on #FanCode
https://t.co/UEv4zoN8Pj#AFGvNED pic.twitter.com/36NtR5s4PN
— FanCode (@FanCode) January 26, 2022
As per Law 41.2.1.1, “If this is a first offence by that side, the bowler’s end umpire shall then summon the offending player’s captain and issue a first and final warning which shall apply to all members of the team for the remainder of the match. warn the offending player’s captain that any further such offence by any member of his/her team shall result in the award of 5 Penalty runs to the opposing team.”
The following Law 41.2.1.2 says that on subsequent offence in the matter, “the bowler’s end umpire shall then summon the offending player’s captain and inform him/her that there has been a further such offence. award 5 Penalty runs to the opposing side.”
This, however, leads to a query whether standing umpires Ahmed Shah Pakteen and Ahmed Shah Durrani had found Netherlands in breach of the law twice? Because the camera footage caught Glover only once indulging in the rubbing act.
A question mark can be raised on whether the umpires implemented the law correctly? As per Law 41.2.1.1, only a warning is to be given to the fielding side in case the umpires find them in breach of the unfair play law the first time. It is only when a subsequent offence is caught that the umpires are due to impose the penalty, as per Law 41.2.1.2.
Ultimately, however, the ICC upheld the officials’ decision and and announced on Wednesday (January 26) that Kingma is being suspended for four international matches for breaching the ball-tampering law, with a deliberate attempt to alter the condition of the white ball. Since Kingma accepted his offence, there was no formal hearing required in the matter.
“Apart from the four suspension points that resulted in the sanction, five demerit points have also been added to the disciplinary record of Kingma, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period,” the governing body further said in its statement.
Kingma will now miss the next set of four internationals that Netherlands will play, besides carrying five demerit points for making a Level 3 offence of an important ICC adopted law.
The 27-year-old right-arm seamer has played 10 ODIs and 9 T20Is for the Dutch and has been an integral part of their bowling attack.