The USA became the first team to be imposed on the stop-clock rule. The host country was awarded the 5-run penalty in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Playing its group match against India, the USA was not ready to bowl the next over within 60 seconds after finishing the previous one.

It happened at the start of the 16th over of the second innings at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York. Surya Kumar Yadav and Shivam Dube were on the crease for India, chasing a target of 111 runs.  

As the new rule was applied by the umpire, the required run for India was reduced to 30 runs off 30 deliveries instead of 35 off 30 balls.

The umpires had warned the USA skipper, Aaron Jones twice for violating the stop-clock rule but at the third instance of the offense, the umpire called for the five penalty runs.

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The extra five runs released the pressure from the Indian batters on a pitch where they were scoring runs in a challenge.

The USA coach felt that the five-run penalty had minimal impact on the outcome of the Group A match.

“We’re only a fledgling team. There’s plenty to learn. There’s not just the cricket aspect of the game of cricket, but there’s also the other intricacies that need to be embedded. It’s a rule that’s only just come in. A lot of our players wouldn’t have heard about it before we played in the Bangladesh series or the Canada series earlier this year,” Law said.

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What is a stop-clock rule?

The stop-clock rule was introduced by the ICC to speed up the progress of the match. It has been made a permanent feature in men’s ODIs and T20s formats from June 1.

•         According to the stop-clock rule, the fielding side must start an over within 60 seconds of the completion of the previous over.
•         The counting of the 60 seconds will be displayed on an electronic clock on the ground and the third umpire will decide the starting time of the clock.
•         Two warnings will be issued in case of violation of the rule, and after that, a five-run penalty will be imposed per incident.

“The clock will be used to regulate the amount of time taken between overs. If the bowling team is not ready to bowl the next over within 60 seconds of the previous over being completed, a five-run penalty will be imposed the third time it happens in an innings”, ICC said in a statement.