Trinbago Knight Riders shown first CPL red card for slow over-rate

New playing conditions were brought in for this year's tournament that mean a player is removed from the field if the fielding team is behind the clock for each of the last three overs of the innings

Nick Friend | 28/08/2023 at 11:27

Sunil Narine became the first player to be given his marching orders in the Caribbean Premier League, with umpires now able to brandish red cards to punish slow over-rates in the competition.

New playing conditions were brought in for this year's tournament that mean a player is removed from the field if the fielding team is behind the clock for each of the last three overs of the innings.

Trinbago Knight Riders were forced to bring an extra fielder into the ring at the start of the 18th and 19th overs as a result, before umpire Zahid Bassarath brandished a red card at the beginning of the final over, with Trinbago still lagging behind.

SENT OFF! The 1st ever red card in CPL history. Sunil Narine gets his marching orders 🚨 #CPL23 #SKNPvTKR #RedCard #CricketPlayedLouder #BiggestPartyInSport pic.twitter.com/YU1NqdOgEX
— CPL T20 (@CPL) August 28, 2023

That meant Knight Riders had just two fielders on the rope for the 20th over and had just 10 on the field in all.

Kieron Pollard, the fielding captain, opted to lose Narine before criticising the rule change afterwards, describing it as "absolutely ridiculous".

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^{Sunil Narine left the field for Trinbago (Randy Brooks/AFP via Getty Images)}

Sherfane Rutherford took 18 runs from the over, even if ironically Trinbago still came out comfortably on top, chasing down 179 with 17 balls remaining.

"To be honest, it will take away the hard work everyone has done," Pollard said afterwards. "We are like the pawns, and we are going to do what we are told. We are going to play as fast as we can. If you are penalised for 30 to 45 seconds in a tournament like this, it is absolutely ridiculous."