Dickwella fined for attempted Mire stumping

Niroshan Dickwella has been fined 30% of his match fee, and handed two demerit points, for a stumping attempt in the first ODI against Zimbabwe that was deemed to be "contrary to the spirit of the game" by match officials.

The incident had occurred in the seventh over of Zimbabwe's innings on Friday. Dickwella gathered the ball, and waited many seconds for Solomon Mire to leave the crease, before finally breaking the stumps, long after Mire had completed the shot.

When Dickwella made the appeal, the decision was sent to third umpire Nigel Llong, who found the batsman to be in his crease at the time the bails were dislodged in any case. Keepers have often waited for batsmen to overbalance before whipping off the bails, but, on this occasion, the umpires who laid the charge had likely taken exception to the length of time that elapsed between the stroke's completion and the stumping attempt.

"Dickwella admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Chris Broad and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing," an ICC release said.

This was Dickwella's third fine of the year. In February, he had had an on-field run-in with Kagiso Rabada, and later in the month showed dissent to an umpire's decision. He was suspended for two limited-overs games as a result, and now, having accrued seven demerit points, will suffer a similar suspension again if he is hit with any further demerit points over the next two years.