First in World Cricket: 5-run "Stop-Clock" Penalty Imposed on USA Against India,

Last evening, the hosts of the ongoing T20 World Cup, USA were handed a 7-wicket loss by India. While India cruised through to a comfortable victory against the ambitious hosts, a controversy has erupted surrounding the 5-run "Stop-Clock" penalty that was imposed on the United States side at the beginning of the 15th over.

At the 15-over mark, the game was interestingly poised with India on 76/3, still needing 35 runs off 30 balls on a tricky bowling friendly surface in New York. Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube were set at the crease. It was at this point that the umpires came forward to announce the imposition of a 5-run penalty on the home team. USA had failed to maintain the requirement of maximum 1-minute interval between consecutive overs, for the third time in the match. The umpires had amply warned the bowling side about the first two breaches. This has triggered a controversy about the application of the rule and whether it's fair to the bowling side. This rule was brought about in December last year to curb the problem of slow over rates.

The Coach of the USA, Stuart Law said later, "I think there needs to be a pace of play. I think if you're dragging games out that should last three and a half hours, they're going for four and a half hours, that's a bit much. The ICC are there to install rules and regulations. We as coaches and teams are there to follow those rules. If there's enough voices saying that it may be detracting from the game, I'm sure the ICC will act on it. I don't see it as a bad thing".