In a rare incident, India started the chase at 5 for 0 against Afghanistan in the third and final ODI in Chennai on Saturday. This came as a result of Afghanistan captain and batter Hashmatullah Shahidi running on the danger area of the pitch.
He committed the offence while scoring a fighting century (102) for the visitors at the venue. India were thus awarded five penalty runs, and this saw their innings begin at 5 for 0 in the chase of 219.
What does ICC rule say?
According to MCC’s law 41.14.1, which comes under Unfair Play section, “It is unfair to cause deliberate or avoidable damage to the pitch. If the striker enters the protected area in playing or playing at the ball, he/she must move from it immediately thereafter.
“A batter will be deemed to be causing avoidable damage if either umpire considers that his/her presence on the pitch is without reasonable cause.”
The law further states that a team will receive “a first and final warning”, which will apply throughout the innings.
If the offence is repeated by any batting team member during the course of the innings, the bowling side will be awarded a five-run penalty, which will result in the second innings starting at 5/0.
India bowl out Afghanistan for 218
Pacer Prasidh Krishna tore apart Afghanistan’s top order with a career-best 5 for 23, but skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi’s valiant 102 carried his side to 218 all out against India in the third and final ODI in Chennai on Saturday.
Opting to bat first, Afghanistan were in all sorts of trouble at 36 for four after Prasidh discovered the perfect length at the Chepauk pitch with a four-wicket burst during his opening spell.
But Shahidi, who took 131 balls for his maiden ODI hundred, marshalled the remaining resources well to save Afghanistan some blushes.
The left-hander first milked 105 runs off 117 balls for the fifth wicket with Azmatullah Omarzai (50, 56b) and then added 57 runs off 53 balls for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Nabi.
Before the Afghans mounted a rescue act, Prasidh hogged the limelight with a very fine spell marked by hitting the fuller length that tempted the batters to drive.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, and Rahmat Shah all attempted to drive outside the off stump off Prasidh, giving regulation catches to Rohit Sharma at first slip.
Darwish Rasooli tried to pull the pacer, but Shreyas Iyer ran from mid-off to take a fine catch that gave Prasidh his fourth wicket inside the first 10 overs.
The Karnataka man also joined an elite list of pacers like Jasprit Bumrah, Javagal Srinath, and Mohammed Siraj to have achieved that feat.
At 36 for four, a capitulation seemed imminent. But Shahidi and Omarzai resisted the Indian bowlers bravely, and often managed to score at over five runs an over.
Shahidi played the anchor role to perfection and often used late cuts and little dabs into the gaps to collect runs, raising his fifty in 64 balls.
In contrast, Omarzai was more aggressive and brought up his half-century in 55 balls, which contained sixes off left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey and off-spinner Washington Sundar.
But a feeble pull off Prince Yadav ended in the hands of Prasidh at long leg.
However, Shahidi, who battled cramps after reaching 80, continued unfazed and scored his first one-day international century off 128 balls, fittingly with a late-cut four off Washington.
But once Nabi departed, wickets began to fall quickly around Shahidi, who had to conjure his last ounce of energy to bat through the pain barrier to take Afghanistan past the 200-run mark.
The tourists’ otherwise modest total was amplified by the five-run penalty imposed on them after Shahidi ran on the pitch’s danger area on the last ball of the 39th over.