Chris Gayle on Sunday

Calcutta: West Indies captain Chris Gayle was fined 70 per cent of his match fee for a code of conduct breach during the final Test against Sri Lanka in Port of Spain, the ICC said in a release on Monday.

Gayle was found to have breached Level 2.11 of the ICC Code, which relates to unfair play due to his side bowling its overs too slowly.

The verdict was issued following a hearing conducted by match referee Chris Broad after play concluded on Sunday.

The other players in the West Indies team were each fined 35 per cent of their match fees for the same offence. The team was found to have been six overs short of the required over-rate, an offence to which Gayle pleaded not guilty.

“During the hearing, neither the captain, coach nor manager was able to persuade me that the shortfall in overs was beyond their control or that the allowances permitted to teams by the match officials were not appropriate,” said Broad.

“Slow over-rates are not fair to the opposition or the paying spectators and captains have a responsibility to ensure their players adhere to the regulations in that regard,” he said.

The charge was brought by the on-field umpires Simon Taufel and Billy Bowden.