Mumbai, May 11: Andy Flower, the head coach of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), has been fined 15% of his match fee. He was found guilty of violating Level 1 of the Code of Conduct during the match against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Sunday.
Flower breached Article 2.3 of the Code, which pertains to the use of ‘abusive language’ during the game. The incident occurred during the 17.2 over of RCB’s innings when Flower was seen in a heated argument with the fourth umpire over a decision.
The controversy arose when Krunal Pandya played a high shot off Allah Gajnafar’s delivery towards wide long-on. Naman Dheer, fielding on the boundary, caught the ball but, fearing he might lose his balance, threw it towards Tilak Varma. However, Varma was unable to complete the catch.
Initially, it appeared that Dheer’s foot touched the boundary rope during the catch attempt, but replays showed he was actually well inside the boundary line. Krunal believed the ball was going for a six and did not run, but the umpires later ruled it was not a six after reviewing the footage. This decision infuriated RCB’s coach Andy Flower, who confronted the fourth umpire in anger. Flower has accepted the fine, acknowledging his mistake.
Despite this incident, RCB managed to secure a 2-wicket victory against MI. MI batted first, scoring 166 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in their 20 overs, with Tilak Varma contributing a solid 57 runs and Naman Dheer adding 47 runs.
RCB chased down the target of 168 runs, losing 8 wickets on the last ball. Krunal Pandya delivered an impressive performance, scoring 73 runs off 46 balls, including 4 fours and 5 sixes. Jacob Bethel also contributed with 27 runs. In a thrilling finish, Bhuvneshwar Kumar hit a crucial six in the final over, and along with Rasikh Salam, ran for 2 runs on the last ball, leading RCB to their seventh victory of the season. Bhuvneshwar remained unbeaten with 7 runs off 2 balls and took 4 wickets for 23 runs in his bowling spell.
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