Cricket is a gentleman’s game, but having a brawl with rivals is a part and parcel of the sport. Players do it all the time to each other either to let their frustration out or get inside a rival’s head and force a mistake from their end. Something of a similar sort happened as star South African Heinrich Klassen got involved in a tussle with some of the Pakistani players that didn’t end well for him.
ICC fined Heinrich Klassen for kicking the stumps
It started during the 26th over of the South African innings as they were chasing down a total of 329 runs from Pakistan. Haris Rauf bowled the final ball of the over after which he said something to Klassen which ignited the South African wicket-keeper who retaliated with some words of his own. Pakistani skipper Mohammed Rizwan got involved in the scene to defend his bowler and there was some finger-pointing between him and Klassen. The mood on the pitch returned back to some normalcy as umpires and some senior Pakistani players like Babar Azam mediated but it seemed that the flashpoint had got into Klassen’s head ever since.
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The South African chase came to an end as Klassen was the last man dismissed by Naseem Shah. Klassen made a valiant effort to save the match for his team and keep the Proteas’ hope alive in the series, but he didn’t get any support from other South African batters. Furious with the loss, Klassen hit the stumps to let his frustration out. Later on, ICC announced that Klassen has been found guilty of breaching the ICC code of conduct and levied 15 percent of his match fee for the same.
The offence of Klaasen
ICC further explained that Klassen breached Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match.” Additionally, one demerit point has also been added to Klassen’s disciplinary record since it was his first offence in a 24-month period.
Klassen has reportedly accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Richie Richardson. On-field umpires Alex Wharf and Lubabalo Gcuma, third umpire Nitin Menon, and fourth umpire Allahuddien Palekar levelled the charges against him for the offence.
South Africa will play the third and final ODI of the series against Pakistan in the Wanderers stadium. The visiting side has already secured an unbeaten 2-0 lead in the series. However, Proteas will quest to avoid a series white-wash against a Pakistani side who has managed to defeat them convincingly in the first two ODIs.
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