Nathan Lyon runs out AB de Villiers in the 1st Test. (Reuters Photo)
Australian offspinner, Nathan Lyon has been fined 15 per cent of his match-fee and charged with a level one offence by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for dropping the ball on AB de Villiers on day four of the first Test at Durban. The off-spinner has accepted the charge and has reportedly apologised to De Villiers. He was also handed one demerit point. The incident occurred in the 12th over of South Africa’s second innings when Lyon ran-out De Villiers for a duck by dislodging the bails and then dropping the ball on the Proteas batsman.
Reflecting on the incident, former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist spoke to SEN Radio and said, “As an outside observer, I think you would find that a little bit off-putting at times, a little bit bad taste at times.”
Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith spoke to cricket.com.au and said, “”He is an experienced cricketer. I think he’ll probably say it was unnecessary himself.”
However, Proteas captain Faf du Plessis refused to adhere too much importance to the incident and maintained that such incidents are part and parcel of the game. “”It’s not anything out of the ordinary for me. We certainly don’t complain about it. It’s big men playing competitive sport. I didn’t even see the footage of Lyon dropping the ball until this morning, so it’s not like it was anything extra for us. We just play. Obviously Australia were on top for most of the game, and generally when you’re on top that sort of stuff happens,” the South African captain had said.
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