Pak vs NZ: ICC suspends Misbah for one Test match

 GEO News: Pakistan's captain Misbah ul Haq has been suspended for one match by the International Cricket Council after slow over-rate in the Christchurch Test, which New Zealand won by eight wickets.

Misbah has also been fined 40% of the match fees, while other team members sentenced fines worth 20% of their match fees as Pakistan was found two overs short.

"Referee Richie imposed the suspension on Misbah after Pakistan was ruled to be two overs short of its target of 103 overs after time allowances were taken into consideration," ICC said in a statement.

As this was Misbah's second offence of slow over rate in less than 12 months, he has been suspended for Pakistan's next match. Misbah was previously found guilty of slow over rate in the Oval Test against England in August 2016.

Misbah has already opted out of the second Test, which starts from 25th of November in Hamilton, due to family reasons, and the suspension is unlikely to be forwarded to Pakistan's next match.

"The Code provides for a suspension to be carried forward to a subsequent match if the match where the suspension applies is cancelled, postponed or abandoned, which is not the case here," said ICC in a statement.