Women's T20 World Cup: Pakistan fined for slow-over rate after crushing defeat to India

Pakistan women’s cricket team has been fined for maintaining a slow over rate during their opening match of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 against India at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Pakistan were found one over short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.

As a result, match referee Trudy Anderson imposed a 5% match fee fine, and there was no need for a formal hearing after Pakistan captain Fatima Sana pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the sanction.

On-field umpires Claire Polosak and Jacquline Williams, third umpire Eloise Sheridan, and fourth umpire Sue Redfern levelled the charge, which fell under Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. It relates to minimum over-rate offences, as per which players are fined 5% of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.

Coming back to the match, India registered a massive 64-run victory in the fixture to get their campaign off to a winning start. After opting to bat first, the Women in Blue posted a good score of 170, courtesy of a brilliant innings from Smriti Mandhana (68 off 44), while Richa Ghosh (34 off 17) also made a valuable contribution lower down the order.

Deepti Sharma's record-breaking spell

For Pakistan, captain Fatima Sana (2/33) and Sadia Iqbal (2/41) chipped in with two wickets each. In reply, the Women in Green were skittled for 106 in 17 overs as Deepti Sharma picked up her second five-wicket haul in T20Is, while Shree Charani (3/21) also chipped in with three wickets.

Sharma was adjudged Player of the Match for her stellar bowling show as she etched her name in the history books. The off-spinner registered the best bowling figures (5/10, 4 overs) for India in T20Is and also became the leading wicket taker in women's T20Is.

Meanwhile, Pakistan will next take on South Africa on Wednesday, June 17, while India will next lock horns with Netherlands on the same day.