Namibia had already announced its entry at the international level at the last T20 World Cup held in the UAE. Zimbabwe, although a seriously good team in the past, has diminished lately, is still worthy of challenging any side. The series involving these two cricket-loving nations are scheduled in May. The series, including five international T20 matches, is being held at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. It is also the first men’s Twenty20 International series involving Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The big news is that the star Zimbabwean batter, Sikandar Raza, was fined 50 percent of his match fee by the match officials for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct. It was during the first T20 International match involving Zimbabwe and Namibia at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo.
The incident occurred when Raza was ruled out LBW in the 16th over of Zimbabwe’s innings on Tuesday. The player challenged the judgment by displaying the umpire his bat, using unacceptable remarks regarding the decision many times as he was departing the playing area, and voiced his disgust once more as he reached the changing room.
According to the new updates, experienced Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza has now been penalized half of his game fee for displaying disobedience against the umpire during the first T20I against Namibia on Tuesday in Bulawayo. The match between Zimbabwe and Namibia was happening at the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo. This all occurred in the 16th over of Zimbabwe’s innings, when Raza has ruled LBW off the bowling of leg-spinner Gerhard Erasmus. It was a close call and the umpire went the bowler’s way to make the decision. The 36-year-old, who was unhappy with the judgment, challenged the umpire’s verdict.
He also indicated to the umpire by flashing his blade, which irritated some spectators and analysts. Raza reportedly expressed his displeasure upon reaching the home changing room. As an outcome of his “dissent at an umpire’s judgment during an international match,” the right-handed batter was found to be in violation of Article 2.8 (Level 1) of the ICC Code of Conduct.
Sikandar Raza handed two demerit points
In addition to the punishment, Raza was also given his first two demerit points on his transcript. There will be no official inquiry on the case because Raza confessed the infraction and agreed to the sentence imposed by match referee Andy Pycroft. Notably, on-field umpires Iknow Chabi and Langton Rusere, as well as third umpire Forster Mutizwa, were the first to issue the charges.
Meanwhile, Raza, who batted at 4th position, showed tremendous endurance in the center and struck 37 runs off 30 balls. After succumbing to Erasmus, he hammered a pair of boundaries and a six. Aside from him Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine hit a half-century, scoring 55 off 39 balls. At the end, Zimbabwe scored 153/4 in their 20 overs.
In response, Namibia appeared to be in contention for the better part, as most of their top-order batsmen got off to strong starts. Divan la Cock and Craig Williams set the tourists off to a strong run, putting up 67 runs for the first wicket. Their skipper Williams was out for 25, and La Cock scored a rapid 66. But, after the pair was removed, things went downhill for the tourists. Zimbabwe won the first game by seven runs and now leads the five-match series 1-0.
