ICC cracks down on Pakistan after another misstep in New Zealand series

International Cricket Council (ICC) has taken stern action against Pakistan by fining all members of the national team playing in Wednesday's second ODI against New Zealand 5 per cent of their match fees for maintaining a slow over rate. The action was taken by Jeff Crowe of the ICC Elite Panel after the on-field umpires informed the ICC that the visitors were one over short of their bowling rate.

Under Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct, players are fined five per cent of their match fee for each over their team is short of the stipulated bowling rate.

Skipper Rizwan has since pleaded guilty to the charge and accepted the sanction, so no formal hearing was held on the matter. Notably, this isn't the first such breach by the Pakistan side in the series, as they were two overs short of the stipulated bowling rate during the first ODI clash.

Pakistan lose 3 match series against New Zealand:

Meanwhile, Pakistan's poor form in ODI cricket continued as they lost the three-match series by 84 runs on Wednesday. The visitors now trail the series 2-0 and will be playing for pride when they take to the field for the third ODI at Mount Maunganui on 5 April.

The series loss to New Zealand comes on the heels of the Champions Trophy saga, in which the hosts failed to reach the qualifying stages of the tournament, which was a major embarrassment for them.

In the run-up to the ODI series, Pakistan, led by new T20I captain Salman Ali Agha, had also played a 5-match series without the likes of Babar Azam and Rizwan. The Men in Green failed to make an impression in the shortest format of the game as well, as they suffered a horrendous 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Kiwis.