England captain Eoin Morgan banned from fourth Pakistan ODI for slow over-rate

England will have to find a new captain for the fourth one-day international against Pakistan on Friday after Eoin Morgan was banned from the match by the International Cricket Council for a slow over-rate offence. Morgan was sanctioned after World Cup hosts and favourites England took around four hours to bowl their 50 overs in a six-wicket win over Pakistan in the third ODI at Bristol on Tuesday. He was also fined 40 per cent of his match fee and his players 20 per cent of theirs after match referee Richie Richardson ruled England were two overs short after time allowances were taken into consideration. As Morgan had previously been found guilty of a minor over-rate offence during the Barbados ODI against the West Indies on February 22, this latest incident constituted his second minor over-rate offence within a 12-month period and so led to a one-game ban. "The suspension means Morgan will miss the fourth ODI against Pakistan in Nottingham on Friday," said an ICC statement issued on Wednesday. England may well have rested Morgan for at least one game during the five-match Pakistan series in order to give vice-captain Jos Buttler more leadership experience. As it is, star batsman Buttler, rested at Bristol, could now return as captain for Friday's match at Nottingham's Trent Bridge. Buttler has captained England in five ODIs and four Twenty20 matches, while Test captain Joe Root is also a mainstay of England's one-day team. Morgan's cumulative punishment will not roll over into the World Cup, with an ICC spokeswoman telling AFP that all players taking part would start the tournament with a "clean slate". England wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow was reprimanded for breaching Level 1 of the ICC's code of conduct relating to "abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match" when smashing his stumps in frustration after he was bowled for a match-winning 128 in Bristol. In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to the disciplinary record of Bairstow. The punishment overshadowed England's victory on Tuesday when Bairstow's blistering 128 off 93 balls helped World Cup hosts England to a six-wicket win in the third one-day international as they went 2-0 up in a five-match series with two to play. Bairstow said playing alongside the likes of Australia's David Warner in the Indian Premier League had helped take his game to new heights. The 29-year-old Yorkshireman carried on his recent form from the lucrative Twenty20 IPL where he scored 445 runs in 10 games at an average of 55.62 for Sunrisers Hyderabad. "You're able to learn different things from different coaches and different players," said Bairstow, who opened the batting for the Sunrisers with Warner - set to be an opponent during the World Cup and subsequent Ashes series in England. "It's just little things like game plans," Bairstow added. "He [Warner] hits in completely different areas to potentially myself. I guess it's method more than anything else. But learning from them, as well as the guys here, that can only be a good thing playing under pressure with expectation." Pakistan's defeat showed how once impregnable ODI totals can now be overhauled in modern limited-overs cricket. It was especially tough on Imam-ul-Haq, whose career-best 151 was Pakistan's highest individual score against England at this level. Imam felt Pakistan had a total they could defend although their cause was not helped by some naive bowling from an inexperienced attack and slipshod fielding. "The score was enough, 360 was a really good total," Imam said. "We just lost a couple of catches that cost us and our bowlers did not stick to the plan," the 23-year-old left-handed opener added. Pakistan have made several recent tours of England and in 2017 they beat arch-rivals India in the final of the 50-over Champions Trophy at The Oval in south London. "We came here in the Champions Trophy so we know what these wickets are like," said Imam ahead of Friday's fourth ODI at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, where the teams can expect another ideal batting pitch. "We know England are going to come hard at us, and we have to bowl better and play better cricket to win." The fourth match at Trent Bridge. Rain forced the first match of the series to be abandoned after just 19 overs had been bowled.

England captain Eoin Morgan banned from fourth Pakistan ODI for slow over-rate

Morgan sanctioned after England took around four hours to bowl their 50 overs in a six-wicket win over Pakistan in the third ODI at Bristol on Tuesday