The red card made its first appearance in the Caribbean Premier League 2023, when Trinbago Knight Riders were behind the required over rate at the start of each of their last three overs while bowling against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots on Sunday in Basseterre. They were left with only ten men for the final over as a result, and just two fielders outside the 30-yard circle, losing Sunil Narine from the field.
“This could be a historic moment here… oh, red card,” Ian Bishop called on the official broadcast as the red card was whipped out by on-field umpire Zahid Bassarath before the start of the final over of the Patriots innings. “You don’t want to see that colour card. They must field with only ten, so somebody has to leave the field. And only two outside the 30-yard circle. The absolute last thing that he [Pollard] would want. And imagine the bowler!”
Red cards, a first in the game, have been introduced in the 2023 CPL – for both men’s and women’s competitions – to combat slow over rates. “We have been disappointed that our T20 games have been getting longer and longer each year, and we want to do what we can to arrest this trend,” Michael Hall, CPL tournament operations director, had said in a statement prior to the start of the tournament.
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