Both the Indian team and West Indies were fined by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for maintaining a slow over-rate in the first T20I of the five-match series which was played on August 3, 2023, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad.

West Indies captain Rovman Powell had won the toss and chose to bat first and posted 149/6 with skipper Powell (48) and Nicholas Pooran (41) being the best scorers. For India, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal picked two wickets each.

In response, Tilak Varma, on his India debut made 39 in 22 balls, while Suryakumar Yadav made 21 runs. But thanks to brilliant bowling by Jason Holder (2/19) and two wickets apiece by Romario Shepherd and Obed McCoy, West Indies kept India to just 145/9, and won the match by 4 runs.

However, both the teams fell short of the minimum over-rate during their bowling innings and were handed big fines.

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India fell an over short during their bowling innings, leading to five percent of their match fees being reduced. West Indies on the other hand fell two overs short, leading to a ten percent match deduction in fees for their players. 

The teams were fined in accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences. According to the law, players are fined five percent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, subject to a cap of 50 percent of the match fee. 

West Indies captain Rovman Powell and India captain Hardik Pandya both admitted to the offense, meaning an additional hearing wasn't required. The charges were leveled by on-field umpires Gregory Brathwaite and Patrick Gustard, along with third umpire Nigel Duguid and fourth umpire Leslie Reifer. 

(ICC inputs)