Du Plessis fined after controversial decision

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has been fined 50 per cent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council for his reaction to his dismissal during the Proteas’ final group-stage match against Sri Lanka.

After being given out lbw trying to scoop Sri Lanka fast-bowler Suranga Lakmal, Du Plessis was deemed to have shown dissent at umpire Sundaram Ravi’s decision by lingering at the crease for a moment before walking off looking at his bat and shaking his head.

Replays appeared to show that Du Plessis got an inside-edge on the ball before it hit his pad.

The Protea skipper pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the sanction offered by match referee Jeff Crowe.

Du Plessis was found to have breached Article 2.1.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to ‘showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during an international match’.

It’s the second time within 12 months that Du Plessis has committed a breach, after he lost 15% of his match fee for violating the same article during the fourth one-day international of South Africa’s series against India in October 2015.

Quick Single: Du Plessis fined after ODI defeat to India

In that match, he angrily gestured at being given out caught behind off the bowling of Axar Patel during South Africa’s innings. Du Plessis admitted fault and accepted the sanction in that instance.

Despite du Plessis’ departure for 31 against Sri Lanka, South Africa recorded a convincing win over the defending World T20 champions, with Hashim Amla (56 off 52 balls) and AB de Villiers (20 off 12) guiding their side home to a consolation victory.

Quick Single: Amla guides Proteas to victory

Having lost to semi-final qualifiers England and the West Indies, South Africa finished third in Group 1 and du Plessis was disappointed that his side had saved their best performance of the tournament for their dead-rubber clash against Sri Lanka.

"We played good cricket leading up to the tournament and we were consistent in the subcontinent, but a World T20 is a do-or-die tournament," du Plessis said post-match.

"If you make mistakes, it's not like a series where you can come back into the series. We made one or two mistakes against England and they punished us for it. Against West Indies, we made one or two mistakes as well.

“It is very bittersweet to be going back to South Africa after the World T20. It was not where we wanted to be. We've only got ourselves to blame."