Kagiso Rabada has successfully overturned his two-match suspension and will be available for the Proteas in the third Test against Australia at Newlands, which begins on Thursday.
The South Africa seamer, who was represented by Advocate Dali Mpofu, was, however, still found guilty of the charge of making inappropriate physical contact with Steve Smith following a hearing before judicial commissioner Michael Heron QC of New Zealand.
READ MORE: Rabada hearing concluded
The result means that Rabada will now be available for the remainder of the series.
In his summary, Heron said: ‘The key issue is whether Mr Rabada made “inappropriate and deliberate physical contact” with Mr Smith. I am not “comfortably satisfied” that Mr Rabada intended to make contact and I therefore find him not guilty of the charge.
‘I am entitled, however, to consider whether the conduct involved constitutes a lower level offence. I consider the conduct was inappropriate, lacked respect for his fellow player and involved non-deliberate and minor contact. The actions contravened the principle that a dismissed batsman should be left alone.
‘I consider a penalty of the imposition of a fine of 25% of the applicable match fee to be the appropriate penalty for the breach of Article 2.1.1. As a consequence, one demerit point accrues. Mr Rabada will be well aware of the consequences of any further breaches of the code.’
ICC chief executive David Richardson said: ‘The ICC wholly accepts today’s decision and I would like to thank Mr Heron for overseeing the hearing in a short time frame before the next Test starts in South Africa.
‘This is perhaps an opportune moment to remind all players of their responsibilities to maintaining a standard of behaviour which sets a good example to players at all levels of the game, especially the young players. We want to see the game played with skill, passion and respect for the opposition, the match officials and the laws.’
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