India fined for slow over-rate

India have been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during their defeat to Sri Lanka in the tri-series final in Dambulla on Saturday. The match referee, Alan Hurst, found the team to be two overs short of its target at the end of the Sri Lankan innings after taking the time allowances into consideration.

The captain MS Dhoni was fined 40% of his match fee while the remaining players were docked 20% each. Batting first, Sri Lanka compiled 299, with big contributions from Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara. India, in reply, managed 225.

Last December, Dhoni was slapped with a more severe penalty for a slow over-rate, when he was banned for two ODIs during Sri Lanka's tour of India. He was found guilty during the Nagpur ODI and Virender Sehwag led the side in his absence. Back then, India were three overs short, which came under the "serious over-rate offence" category. Falling short by up to two overs in an ODI, and five in a Test day, is considered a "minor offence", and merits a ban only if the offence is repeated twice in 12 months.